World War II veteran identified and buried 81 years after being killed in action

Yahoo

19 hours ago

GRAVETTE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Eighty-one years after being killed in action during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, Private Rodger Andrews was buried at Bethel Cemetery in his hometown of Gravette.
Pvt. Andrews was in the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion during World War II. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Andrews and the other engineers in the Battalion were tasked with clearing German defenses and setting up routes off the beach to allow the Allied soldiers to fight further inland in France. During the battle, Andrews died on Omaha Beach, although his exact cause of death is still uncertain.
'From what we understand, he made it out of the landing craft. He made it all the way across the beach,' said Chaplain Colonel Jeremy Miller, who presided over the memorial, 'He made it to the to the edge of the wall where his team was charged with breaching that wall so that thousands of Americans could follow through to really bring the allied forces ashore into France.'
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In June 2024, Pvt. Andrews' remains were identified with the help of a cheek swab submitted by his nephew, Russ Yates, a few years prior. Yates also said that the military and his family had been in contact for years, trying to find Pvt. Andrews.
'The military, I want to commend them. One hundred percent,' said Yates, 'Like the chaplain said, no one goes missing. We work until we find them.'
Yates said when the U.S. military asked where he wanted Pvt. Andrews to be buried, he chose Bethel Cemetery, where Andrews' parents and sister are also buried.
Community members from Gravette gathered for Pvt. Andrews' memorial. Both Yates and Col. Miller said they were happy to see the turnout.
'There were so many people from not only the community, there were a lot of people who traveled in for this and it wasn't so that they could be seen. It was so that they could pay respects, so that they could bring honor,' said Col. Miller, 'That's what makes me proud to be an American, when we get to see things like that.'
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