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PRIVATE RICHARD
E. �DUKE� ALEXANDER was the son of Nathan P. and Gertrude Alexander.
Born in Pennsylvania in 1920, his father was an electrician foreman for
the Reading Railroad. By 1930 the family had bought a home at 504 Park
Avenue in Laurel Springs NJ. Richard Alexander graduated from Collingswood High School
in
1939, where he had starred in track, and continued to excel in that sport at the
University of Maryland. He left school to join the United States Marine
Corps on March 4, 1942, reporting to Parris Island. He was sent to New
River NC on May 4th, and went overseas to Guadalcanal on
August 7, 1942, and was killed in action on September 11, at the age of
21. He received posthumously the Purple Heart, the Asiatic-Pacific
Campaign Medal and a Presidential Citation.
In his last letter home he wrote �You
have nothing
to worry about. It is the same story, the Marines having the situation
well in hand� (Marine Recruiting Notes Vol. 3 #49 2/23/1948).
The Knight, yearbook published by
Collingswood High School,
wrote "Richard K. (Duke) Alexander, died with the same "will
to win" that made him the greatest track star in Collingswood's
history. He lost his life while fighting with the marines on
Guadalcanal."
Richard Alexander was survived by his
mother, Mrs. Gertrude Alexander
of 504 Park Avenue, Laurel Springs NJ, and an older brother Nathan
Patterson Alexander Jr.. After the war, his body was
brought home, and he is buried at Locustwood Cemetery in what is now
Cherry Hill NJ.
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