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Alex F. Miranda

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Alex F. Miranda

Birth
Santa Ana, Orange County, California, USA
Death
30 May 1944 (aged 20)
Shepton Mallet, Mendip District, Somerset, England
Burial
Fere-en-Tardenois, Departement de l'Aisne, Picardie, France Add to Map
Plot
Plot E.
Memorial ID
View Source

Also see Find a Grave Memorial ID: 9578901.


US Army soldier, executed for capital crime. Place of execution: European Theater. Method: Firing squad.

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The cemetery section is maintained and groomed by cemetery caretakers, though it is hidden from view and kept far separate from the nearby four plots for the honored dead of World War I. Unlike the marble monuments and inscribed standing headstones of the regular plots, Plot E contains nothing but 96 flat stone markers (arranged in 4 rows) and a single small granite cross. The markers are the size of index cards and have nothing on them except sequential grave numbers engraved in black. No US flag is permitted to fly over the section, and the numbered graves literally lie with their backs turned to the hallowed ground of the main cemetery across the street. Visitors are not encouraged, and its existence is not mentioned on the cemetery website or guide pamphlets.

20 year old Alex F. Miranda from Santa Ana, California, became the first American serviceman to suffer death by musketry as the US Army called shooting by firing squad, at Shepton Mallet. He had been convicted of Violation of the 92nd Article of War (murder) and was executed by an eight man firing squad in the prison grounds on Tuesday the 30th of May 1944 for the murder of his sergeant, Sgt. Thomas Evison at Broomhill Camp in Devon. Miranda had gone out drinking and had been behaving badly so was arrested by the civilian police and taken back to the camp. Here he became aggressive and the object of his aggression was Sgt. Evison who was reportedly asleep at the time. Getting no response from the sleeping man he shot him dead. The location of Miranda's court martial is unknown as is the reason why he was sentenced to be shot rather than hanged, bearing in mind that both David Cobb and Harold Smith had also killed other US soldiers. Hanging was the preferred method by the US Military as it was considered a more ignominious death than shooting.

Also see Find a Grave Memorial ID: 9578901.


US Army soldier, executed for capital crime. Place of execution: European Theater. Method: Firing squad.

--

The cemetery section is maintained and groomed by cemetery caretakers, though it is hidden from view and kept far separate from the nearby four plots for the honored dead of World War I. Unlike the marble monuments and inscribed standing headstones of the regular plots, Plot E contains nothing but 96 flat stone markers (arranged in 4 rows) and a single small granite cross. The markers are the size of index cards and have nothing on them except sequential grave numbers engraved in black. No US flag is permitted to fly over the section, and the numbered graves literally lie with their backs turned to the hallowed ground of the main cemetery across the street. Visitors are not encouraged, and its existence is not mentioned on the cemetery website or guide pamphlets.

20 year old Alex F. Miranda from Santa Ana, California, became the first American serviceman to suffer death by musketry as the US Army called shooting by firing squad, at Shepton Mallet. He had been convicted of Violation of the 92nd Article of War (murder) and was executed by an eight man firing squad in the prison grounds on Tuesday the 30th of May 1944 for the murder of his sergeant, Sgt. Thomas Evison at Broomhill Camp in Devon. Miranda had gone out drinking and had been behaving badly so was arrested by the civilian police and taken back to the camp. Here he became aggressive and the object of his aggression was Sgt. Evison who was reportedly asleep at the time. Getting no response from the sleeping man he shot him dead. The location of Miranda's court martial is unknown as is the reason why he was sentenced to be shot rather than hanged, bearing in mind that both David Cobb and Harold Smith had also killed other US soldiers. Hanging was the preferred method by the US Military as it was considered a more ignominious death than shooting.


Inscription

Aged 20 years


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  • Created by: Doc Wilson
  • Added: Mar 25, 2019
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197825879/alex_f-miranda: accessed ), memorial page for Alex F. Miranda (28 Jul 1923–30 May 1944), Find a Grave Memorial ID 197825879, citing Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial, Fere-en-Tardenois, Departement de l'Aisne, Picardie, France; Maintained by Doc Wilson (contributor 47464039).