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Remains of WWII Soldier Forced to Endure Bataan Death March Returning to Kentucky
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified Hirst in April 2026, ending an 84-year search before burial with full military honors.
- On Tuesday, the remains of World War II soldier Technician Fifth Grade Robert W. Hirst returned to Louisville, more than 84 years after he died as a prisoner of war in the Philippines.
- Hirst served with the Medical Detachment of the 194th Tank Battalion and endured the Bataan Death March before dying from malaria at Cabanatuan Prison Camp on July 5, 1942.
- The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified Hirst's remains in April 2026 using forensic analysis to distinguish his body from others buried in a common grave at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
- Services for Hirst are scheduled to begin Wednesday, with burial and full military honors set for Thursday to honor the fallen veteran's return home.
- Returning to Louisville allows Hirst to be laid to rest near his family, concluding a decades-long effort to locate and identify his remains after his death in the Philippines.
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