WWII · Battle Death Record
Robert Brooks
Private, U.S. Army · Kentucky
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Robert Brooks
- Entered the Service From
- Kentucky
- Rank
- Private
- Service
- U.S. Army
- Unit / Regiment
- Company D, 192nd Tank Battalion
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- December 8, 1941
- Awards
- Purple Heart
- Burial / Memorial
- Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines
- Grave
- Plot D, Row 2, Grave 4
Their story
Private Robert H. Brooks, a tank crewman in Company D, 192nd Tank Battalion, was killed on December 8, 1941, during the Japanese air attack on Clark Field in the Philippines, making him the first U.S. Armored Force soldier killed in World War II. He was posthumously promoted to private first class and awarded the Purple Heart. After the war his remains were re-interred at the Manila American Cemetery.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.