Racine airman, shot down above Germany during WWII, accounted for

RACINE, Wis. -- A Racine airman who died after his aircraft was shot down over Germany during World War II was accounted for in December 2023, 78 years after he was marked dead, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Thursday.

U.S. Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Ralph H. Bode, 20, was part of the 700th Bombardment Squadron, 445th Bombardment Group, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in late 1944.

The DPAA said that, on Sept. 27, 1944, Bode was a tail gunner on a B-24H “Liberator” that was shot down during a bombing mission over Kassel, Germany. His aircraft was one of 25 Liberators lost during the mission.

Survivors from Bode's aircraft said they did not see him escape the wreckage. German forces took three crewmembers as prisoners of war following the crash but Bode was not among them. With no sign of Bode, the War Department issued a finding of death on Sept. 28, 1945.

The American Graves Registration Command in September 1951 recovered the remains of multiple servicemembers after receiving reports from residents of Richelsdorf, Germany about several bombers that crashed in the woods outside of the town. The remains were labeled X-9070 Liege and X-9071 Liege and were believed to belong to members of Bode's aircraft.

Identification was not possible at the time and the remains were interred at the Luxembourg America Cemetery, Luxembourg, and the North African American Cemetery, Tunisia, respectively.

The Department of Defense and American Battle Monuments Commission exhumed X-9070 in April 2018, and X-9071 was exhumed in May 2022. The remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory.

Scientists were able to use anthropological analysis and mitochondrial DNA analysis to identify Bode. His name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Luxembourg American Cemetery, Hamm, Luxembourg and a rosette will soon be placed next to his name to show he is accounted for.

Bode will be buried on Sept. 27, 2024 in Racine.

​COPYRIGHT 2024 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.