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FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. Ralph H. Bode, a Soldier killed during World War II, will be interred Sept. 27 at Graceland Cemetery, Racine, Wisconsin. Sturino Funeral Home will perform graveside services preceding the interment.
A native of Racine, Bode was a tail gunner assigned to the 700th Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. He went missing in action Sept. 27, 1944, at age 20, after the B-24H “Liberator”, on which he was serving, was shot down while on a bombing mission over Kassel, Germany. The War Department issued a finding of death for him of Sept. 28, 1945.
Bode was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Dec. 26, 2023, after his remains were exhumed in May 2022 from the North African American Cemetery, Tunisia.
The Past Conflict Repatriations Branch, under the Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Fort Knox, Kentucky, plays a key role in the process of locating Family members of missing Soldiers from WWII, the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
The process begins with locating the Family member most closely related to the missing Soldier, known as the primary next of kin, followed by a request for Family reference samples or DNA, which are used as a main source in identifying remains.
Once a Soldier has been identified by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner, the PCRB notifies and briefs the Family about the results of historical, forensic and DNA reports, benefits and the mortuary process including burial with full military honors.
For additional information about Staff Sgt. Bode go to: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/Press-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/3850008/airman-accounted-for-from-wwii-bode-r/
Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490 and/or Sturino Funeral Home, 262-632-4479.
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| Date Taken: | 10.16.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.16.2024 15:46 |
| Story ID: | 483262 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 10 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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