Alexander Ramsey “Sandy” Nininger Jr.

United States Army Second Lieutenant Alexander Ramsey “Sandy” Nininger Jr. was killed in action January 12 in 1942 in Abucay, Bataan, Philippine Islands.

After voluntarily joining another company to get into the fight, Nininger evaded enemy sniper fire while engaging in hand-to-hand combat in order to secure a hostile position.

Using his rifle and hand grenades, he successfully silenced several enemy foxholes and sniper positions, although wounded on three separate occasions.

He continued to advance into the enemy’s stronghold alone, until he was killed at the age of just 23. Nininger’s body was discovered the next morning with three enemy dead around him. For his actions that day, Nininger became the first recipient of the Medal of Honor of World War Two.

A cenotaph to Nininger was placed in Memorial Section K at Arlington National Cemetery. While the exact location of his burial is unknown, it is believed he was buried at the Church Cemetery of Abucay, Philippines.

Due to the chaos of the continued battle, it is very likely he was hastily interred and assigned an unknown Soldier’s burial plot. As a result of this mishap, Nininger’s name has been inscribed on the Wall of the Missing at Manila’s ABMC Cemetery.

In October 2021, Nininger was once again in the news. After nearly 80 years, his family has asked the Defense Department to exhume remains, they believe to be those of Nininger; grave “Manila X-1130.”

The @depofdefense will not consent to the recent request for exhumation. Similarly, a 2017 lawsuit, led by families of those buried in unknown graves in the Philippines, to force DNA testing, was dismissed in 2019.