NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio — The remains of a World War II soldier, which were identified earlier this year, will be buried in North Olmsted.
According to a release from U.S. Army human resources, the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. George J. (Bud) Reuter will be interred July 29 at Sunset Memorial Park. A Westlake native, Reuter was serving aboard a B-24 Liberator aircraft on Aug. 1, 1943 when it was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation TIDAL WAVE -- the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
Reuter, who was 25-years-old at the time, died in the crash. His remains could not be identified following the war.
After the war, the American Graves Registration Command disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. A total of more than 80 unknowns could not be identified and were interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both of which are located in Belgium.
In 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began exhuming unknowns that were believed to be associated with unaccounted-for Soldiers from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. Those remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification, with Reuter ultimately accounted for by the DPAA Jan. 10, 2023.
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