Doughboy MIA For January 2025: Private Eugene Sharpe

Published: 28 January 2025

By Alexander Curran
Senior Director- Research and Field Operations
Doughboy MIA

Eugene Sharp framed

Private Eugene Sharpe

A man is only missing if he is forgotten…

Eugene Sharpe was born on May 31st, 1896 in Winnfield, Tennessee. Before the war, he worked on the family farm and later as a brakeman for the Southern Railroad, operating the line from Oakdale, Tennessee, to Chattanooga. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1916 and served along the Mexican Border with the Tennessee National Guard. After his discharge, Eugene later enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in Chattanooga on February 13th, 1918. He soon sailed to France and was assigned to the 17th Company, 5th Marines, 2nd Division.

On July 18, 1918, during the Aisne-Marne offensive, Private Sharpe was reportedly wounded near the village of Chaudun. Despite efforts by the Graves Registration Service and the Marine Corps to locate witnesses to his wounding or possible burial, no further information could be obtained. PVT Sharpe was reported missing, and his family clung to the hope that he would be found alive in a hospital or Prisoner of War camp.

That hope shattered in late August when his sister, Ms. Jennie Sharpe, received a letter from a French soldier. The letter dated July 30th read:

“Madam, I am forced by the exigencies of war into the most sorrowful duty of all duties, as it will fill you with anguish and pain. As I was reconnoitering, I discovered the body of Mr. Eugene Sharpe, and from the letter at his side, I surmised that there were ties between the two of you. I join to this letter a small photograph which bears his name. It is with sincere regret that I announce this cruel news, but you may have the consolation of knowing that your brother fell gloriously and victoriously for the most noble of all causes, that of liberty and right. Believe me, your very devoted- TRUCOT, 15th Regiment of Artillery, 3rd battalion.” 

While the Marine Corps received notification from the French Army that they had buried PVT Sharpe Southwest of Chaudun on August 3rd, 1918, no precise burial location was known. Letters written by Jennie Sharpe to the French Soldier Trucot were returned to her and marked as undeliverable. Efforts by the Graves Registration service to locate Trucot for further information proved futile, as the French 15th Artillery Regiment reported no member by that name.

Unknown Soldier #1411

The case went cold until October of 1921 When the Graves Registration Service requested the remains of Unknown Soldier #1411 buried at the Aisne-Marne American cemetery to be exhumed for identification. These unknown remains contained a tag, and stenciled upon it was the inscription: “Eugene, U.S.M.C.”  These remains were immediately connected to the cases of PVT Eugene Sharpe and Private Eugene King from the 96th Company, 6th Marines, who was reported missing on July 19th, 1918. However, no record of this comparison ever being completed exists.

Unknown Soldier #828 was soon identified as Private Eugene King. The identification was based on a draft card found on the remains, which read “Eugene Joseph King, 5th Ward, Syracuse, New York.”  All efforts to Identify PVT Eugene Sharpe again went cold, and no documented comparison to the remains of Unknown Soldier #1411 exists.

When cross-referencing records pretraining to the burial of Unknown Soldiers, we find that Unknown Soldier #1411 rests in Grave 78, Row 11, Plot B, at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France. Interestingly, the list still records the name for this Unknown Soldier as “Eugene” and the unit as “U.S.M.C.” While PVT Sharpe is the only Marine Missing in Action with the first name Eugene, other men may have preferred to use their middle name over their first name. 

When looking into the cases of Marines missing in the Aisne-Marne and Oise-Aisne areas with the middle name Eugene, no possible identification of these men could be established as Unknown Soldier #1411. While it is highly likely that PVT Sharpe is Unknown Soldier #1411, a conclusive identification cannot be made. A key reason is the lack of documentation of the initial burial location for these remains.

Tablets of the Missing, Aisne-Marne American Cemetery

PVT Sharpe’s patriotism is undeniable, evidenced by the U.S. flag which was tattooed on his left bicep as he fell mortally wounded in battle. PVT Sharpe is commemorated on the Tablets of the Missing at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in Belleau, France. His date of death is carried as August 3rd, 1918. This is the date the French Army reported his burial, and his actual date of death is likely July 18th, 1918, which is the date he was reported wounded and missing. A cenotaph was placed in his memory in the Chattanooga National Cemetery in 1960.


Would you like to be involved with solving the case of Private Eugene Sharpe, and all the other Americans still in MIA status from World War I? You can! Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to our non-profit organization today, and help us bring them home! Help us do the best job possible and give today, with our thanks.  Remember: A man is only missing if he is forgotten.

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