Pvt. Robert DuBois Returns to Albuquerque for Burial
The remains of a New Mexico soldier who died in a Philippine prison camp in 1942 will be interred Saturday with full military honors.
By Alina Marshall ·
The Army has identified the remains of a World War II private who died in a Philippine prison camp and will bring them home for burial on Saturday. The soldier, Pvt. Robert E. DuBois, died in July 1942 at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was 24 years old. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency confirmed the identification this month, ending a search that spanned nearly 84 years.
DuBois served with the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment, a federalized unit of the New Mexico National Guard. He enlisted in the Army on January 6, 1941, after graduating from Albuquerque High School. The unit deployed to the Philippines before the United States formally entered the war. American forces surrendered the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, leading to DuBois's capture. He then endured the 65-mile Bataan Death March.
DuBois was born on May 31, 1918. His niece, Patricia Gutierrez, said her mother described him as a happy and charitable person. Gutierrez stated that DuBois’s parents and siblings died without ever knowing what happened to his remains. She said she was in disbelief when the Army notified her of the identification in August. She described the news as a roller coaster of emotions. Her family had wondered for decades whether his remains had been found.
After his death from dysentery and malnutrition, DuBois was buried in the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery. By the time Japanese forces liberated the camp in early 1945, approximately 2,800 American prisoners had died there. American Graves Registration Service personnel later exhumed bodies from communal graves. They moved the remains to a temporary mausoleum near Manila. The team designated DuBois's original burial site as Common Grave 409. They recovered 34 sets of remains from that grave. Unidentified remains were subsequently buried at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
Researchers began the Cabanatuan Project in November 2019. They disinterred the remains associated with Common Grave 409 and sent them to the DPAA laboratory for analysis. The identification was confirmed during this process. A rosary and Mass for DuBois will begin at 9 a.m. on November 14 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Albuquerque. His burial will follow at Mount Calvary Cemetery. Gutierrez said he will finally rest in peace.
