SEVILLE, Ohio — Nearly 79 years after his death, the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Flight Officer Chester Rinke, a soldier who was killed during World War II, will be buried in Medina County.
Rinke's remains will be interred on Nov. 6, at the Ohio Western National Cemetery in Seville. Anthony Funeral Homes in Uniontown will perform graveside services preceding the interment.
Rinke was born in Marquette Michigan and was the flight officer assigned to the 678th Bombardment Squadron, 444th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy), 58th Bombardment Wing, Twentieth Bomber Command.
On June 26, 1944, Rinke was killed after the B-29 Superfortress crashed into a rice paddy in the village of Sapekhati, India, following a bombing raid on Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata, Kyushu Island, Japan. Rinke, who was serving on the B-29th Superfortress, was 33 at the time of his death.
An investigation team recovered life support equipment and wreckage associated with the B29 aircraft from the crash site in October 2014. In 2018 and 2019, investigators recovered possible osseous remains and material evidence from the crash site.
The DPAA accounted for Rinke on May 5, 2023, after his remains were identified using material evidence and anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.
More information on Officer Rinke can be found HERE.
