Remains of WWII Soldier to be Interred Beside His Twin Brother in Big Pine
BIG PINE, Calif. — The remains of U.S. Army Pvt. Roman Cherubini, killed in action during World War II, have finally been identified and will be laid to rest in the Eastern Sierra, more than 80 years after his death on the battlefield.
Cherubini, a 22-year-old from Bridgeton, New Jersey, was a member of the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) — better known as “Merrill’s Marauders.” The elite unit conducted deep-penetration missions behind Japanese lines in the jungles of Burma, now Myanmar.
He was killed on June 16, 1944, during an assault on heavily fortified Japanese positions near Myitkyina. The exact circumstances of his death were not recorded, but he was declared killed in action the same day.
A Long Journey Home
Following the war, Cherubini’s remains were among many buried in temporary cemeteries across Burma. Over the next several years, unidentified remains were transferred first to India, and eventually to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu — also known as the Punchbowl — where they were interred as unknowns.
One of those unknowns, designated “X-65 Kalaikunda,” was exhumed in January 2022 by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) as part of the Battle of Myitkyina project. Using dental and anthropological analysis, along with mitochondrial DNA, scientists were able to identify the remains as those of Pvt. Roman Cherubini. He was officially accounted for on December 16, 2024.
A Brother’s Final Reunion
Cherubini was an identical twin. His brother, Raymond Cherubini, also served in World War II and later moved west, eventually settling in the Owens Valley. Raymond passed away in 2005 and was buried at Big Pine’s Crocker Cemetery.
Now, 80 years after Roman’s death, the brothers will be reunited.
Private Cherubini will be buried with full military honors on Saturday, April 26, at Crocker Cemetery in Big Pine, California.
Procession to Bishop Underway
Cherubini’s remains are being transported to Bishop today. The procession is scheduled to depart Reno around 3:30 p.m., escorted by the Nevada Highway Patrol to the state line. A military escort will accompany the remains into California, where local California Highway Patrol officers and fire personnel will escort the procession from the Bishop Gun Club to the local mortuary.
Cherubini’s name is inscribed on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. A rosette will now be placed next to his name to signify that he has been accounted for.
For more information on the Defense Department’s mission to recover and identify missing service members, visit www.dpaa.mil.