D-Day Soldier Identified After 80 Years Laid To Rest In Arkansas

More than 81 years after D-Day, Private Rodger Dean Andrews, an American soldier killed in the historic battle, was laid to rest at Bethel Cemetery in Gravette, Arkansas, NBC News reported. He received full military honors.

In June of 1944, Private Andrews was assigned to the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion in the European Theater. That same month, Operation Overlord commenced, in which American, Canadian, and British soldiers stormed the beaches of Normandy, France.

Andrews was killed during the battle, but his specific cause of death is unknown. After D-Day, his remains were recovered, but went unidentified until his family requested a renewed effort in 2014. In 2019, Andrews’ remains were exhumed, and his identity was confirmed through dental and anthropological analysis. They arrived in Arkansas on Sunday evening, where Bentonville’s Epting Funeral Home took them into their care.

His name at the Normandy American Cemetery will now be marked with a rosette.

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The United States commemorated the anniversary of the historic D-Day battle on Friday, June 6, when President Donald Trump delivered honorary remarks about the brave men who fought and died in the battle.

“To the men who sit behind me, and to the boys who rest in the field before me, your example will never, ever grow old,” he said. “Your legend will never tire. Your spirit — brave, unyielding, and true — will never die.”

The White House also released a statement, which read in part: “We are grateful for those young men who answered their nations’ calls and faced the carnage of war in order to defeat tyranny—and we are eternally indebted to the souls who gave their lives in this noble struggle. It is our solemn obligation to remember their heroic stories, honor their sacrifices, and ensure that the freedom for which they died for may never again be in peril.”

On Monday, Private Andrews’ funeral procession departed from Epting Funeral Home, and the BCSO Motor Division escorted him to his final resting place. In a Facebook post, BSCO said that community members were “encouraged to line the route and pay their respects to honor the life and service of Private Rodger Dean Andrews, a true American hero.”