The remains of U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Ralph H. Bode, a 20-year-old from Racine, Wisconsin, have been identified and accounted for, nearly 80 years after he was killed in action during World War II.
Bode, a tail gunner on a B-24H Liberator bomber, was lost on September 27, 1944, when his aircraft was shot down during a bombing mission over Kassel, Germany. Despite extensive search efforts, his remains were not recovered at the time.
In recent years, advancements in forensic science and historical research led to the exhumation of two sets of remains from cemeteries in Luxembourg and Tunisia, believed to be associated with Bode’s downed aircraft.
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Through anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA testing, scientists from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) were able to confirm the remains as those of Sgt. Bode.
Bode’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Luxembourg American Cemetery, where a rosette will be added to indicate he has been accounted for. .
He will be buried in his hometown of Racine, Wisconsin, on September 27, 2024, the anniversary of his death.
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