Virgil R. Alexander
Biography: Virgil Ross Alexander was born on March 28, 1923, in Cove, Oregon. He was the son of Roy Alexander and Mary Bunnell and attended local schools through the 8th grade. He later found work as a logger and heavy equipment operator, listing the Grande Ronde Pine Company as his employer on his military registration.
Service Time: Virgil entered the service on January 8, 1943, and after his basic training was sent overseas as a replacement on June 9, 1943. He arrived in the African and middle Eastern theater on the 21st and probably joined the 601st Tank Destroyer battalion while they were still in North Africa, just before they shipped to Sicily in July.
The 601st then participated in invasion landings at Salerno, Italy, on September 9, and made an assault landing at Anzio, on January 22, 1944. They entered Rome five months later in June and conducted another assault landing in Southern France on August 15th. It was during that time period that Virgil was wounded and would receive the Purple Heart medal in recognition of those wounds received on the 16th. In December, he earned his Motor Vehicle Badge.
The unit advanced to the German border, in the Vosges region, and participated in the reduction of the Colmar Pocket in February, 1945, and then converted to M36’s. Before crossing the Rhine River, they battled along the Siegfried Line and later helped capture Nürnberg in April. The 601st ended their overseas service by occupying Berchtesgaden, which was Hitler’s retreat, in the Bavarian Mountains.
Virgil received credit for 5 of the unit’s 9 campaigns including, Naples/Foggia, Rome Arno, Southern France, Rhineland and Central Europe. He shipped home on October 7th and arrived back in the U.S. on the 15th. He left the service on October 24th, at Cam[pp Beale, California. He held the rank of Corporal. He was awarded the EAME Ribbon and Good Conduct Medal and shared in the unit’s award of the Distinguished Unit Badge. He also received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm (shown on left).
Virgil would return home to Chester, County, OR but in 1952, he moved to Redding, California in Shasta County. He had returned to his former occupation of logger and in 1958, was working as a foreman for Fred Smith Logging. He later worked for Jerry Comingdeer in the same capacity. He then worked as a heavy equipment operator for Crystal Creek Construction in Redding and at some point owned a sawmill.
He married the former Dixie Perkins who had been born in Milburn, Oklahoma and was the daughter of George W. Perkins Sr. and Leota F. Watkins. The new couple would have three children, Sue born in 1952, Kenneth in 1957 and Christine in 1967. Virgil was also a member of the VFW.
Virgil passed away on June 7, 2001 and was cremated. He and Dixie had been married for over 50 years. I want to thank Virgil’s grandson Gabe for providing the photos and information used in this tribute.