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FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army 1st Lt. Robert P. Aikman, 40, killed during World War II, will be interred May 22, in Forsyth Cemetery in Forsyth, Montana. Services and interment will be coordinated by Snapp-Bearden Forsyth Chapel.
In January 1945, Aikman was assigned to Battery D, 1st Battalion, 59th Coastal Artillery Corps. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Empire of Japan in the Philippines from 1942 to 1944 when the Japanese military moved POWs to Manila for transport to Japan aboard the transport shipOryoku Maru. Unaware the allied POWs were on board, a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft attacked theOryoku Maru, which eventually sank in Subic Bay. After a series of land and naval transfers, Aikman was transported to Takao, Formosa, aboard theEnoura Maru.The Japanese government reported that Aikman died on January 9, 1945, when U.S. forces sank theEnoura Maru. He was declared non-recoverable on March 22, 1949.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency accounted for Aikman April 2, 2025.
For more information on DPAA’s efforts to locate and identify Aikman, please visit: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4159055/soldier-accounted-for-from-wwii-aikman-r/
U.S. Army Human Resources Command’s Past Conflict Repatriations Branch plays a vital role in the process of identifying, locating and contacting subsequent generation family members of Soldiers missing or killed in action during WWII and the Korean War to positively identify previously undiscovered or unknown remains.
Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact Snapp-Bearden Forsyth Chapel 417-546-4757.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 05.22.2026 14:20 |
| Story ID: | 566021 |
| Location: | FORSYTH, US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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