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Writer's pictureDon Milne

Solved: How Many WWII Fallen Are Buried In Arlington


How many World War II fallen are buried at Arlington National Cemetery?


For more than seventy five years nobody knew the answer.


Now thanks to the efforts of more than three dozen volunteer researchers for the non-profit initiative Stories Behind the Stars, we have a good idea.


As of Veterans Day 2024, the number of WWII fallen buried or remembered with cenotaph graves in Arlington National Cemetery is 8,466.


We started with a list of 1941-1946 burial names provided to us by Arlington National Cemetery, augmented by additional names provided by the remembrance organization Find A Grave.


These volunteers spent more than a thousand hours going through these names one by one, excluding those who did not serve in World War II, and adding basic information to the database.


Nearly 180 volunteers wrote the stories of all of these fallen, so the 4 million people who visit Arlington National Cemetery every year can approach any of their graves and read their stories via a free smartphone app.


What do we know so far about these 8,466 WWII fallen buried at Arlington?

  • At least 40 were younger than 18 years, with one only 15 years old.

  • At least 10 were older than 70 - probably still in the service due to some special skill.

  • There are 36 fallen who died in the December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.

  • There are 60 fallen who died on June 6, 1944, the day of the D-Day landings.

  • While most of the fallen were born in the US, more than 100 were born in 35 other countries.

  • Pennsylvania has more WWII fallen buried at Arlington than any other state with more than 1,200.

  • Preliminary results show 72% are in individual graves, 20% are in group graves, and 8% are remembered with cenotaph graves.


Here are the volunteers who helped with this first-ever database of the Arlington National Cemetery World War II fallen:


DATABASE SECTION DIRECTORS

Tammy Burrows

Tricia Castille

Becky Fox

Kathy Harmon

Christy Johnson

Karen Marquart

Katherine Rasdorf

Linda Simpson

Judith Skillings


DATABASE RESEARCHERS

Karen Baker, Arkansas

Sonya Bayles, Georgia

Michael Bell

Liesl Bradner, California

Lee Braswell, Colorado

Tricia Castille, Louisiana

Brad Cychosz, Wisconsin

Dennis Dupras, Alaska

Becky Fox, Georgia

Teri Fronk, Utah

Molly Green, North Carolina

Kathy Harmon, Pennsylvania

Lois Healen, Ohio

Kirstin Howard, Utah

Kerry Huffstutler, Alabama

Christy Johnson, Tennessee

Valerie Jones, Oklahoma

Jeff Joyce, Virginia

Mary Alice & Wade Keller, Florida

Debi Lehman, Oklahoma

Don Milne, Kentucky

Marilyn Murphy, Wisconsin

Eden Palmer, Illinois

Mary Peterson, Minnesota

Jenna Rabtzow, Colorado

Al Schutte, Ohio

Linda Simpson, Oklahoma

Susan Singleton, Illinois

John Sise, Pennsylvania

Julie Sohlberg, Colorado

Ronalee Summers, Utah

Pamela Tilson, North Carolina

Melodye Whatley, Connecticut

Elaine Young, Utah



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