Sanford K. Bowen, age 26, from Ashland, Ohio, Ashland county.
Parents: S. R. Bowen
Spouse: Married
Children: Son, three months
Service era: World War II
Military history: Company I, 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division
Date of death: Saturday, January 20, 1945
Death details: On March 21, 2022, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Sanford K. Bowen, missing from World War II. Private First Class Bowen entered the U.S. Army from Ohio and was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. In January 1945, his unit engaged German forces near Reipertswiller, France. PFC Bowen was killed in action against enemy forces near Reipertswiller on Jan. 20. His remains could not be recovered at the time of his loss, and he was not identified from among remains recovered from the area after the war. Many remains that American Graves Registration Command recovered from the region after the war could not be identified and were buried in American cemeteries as “unknow” remains. Ongoing research by DPAA historians prompted the reexamination of a set of unknown remains that had been recovered from near Reipertswiller and buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery in Saint-Avold, France. The remains were exhumed in June 2021 and transferred to the DPAA laboratory for identification. Laboratory analysis and circumstantial evidence established the remains as those of PFC Bowen.
Cemetery: Shiloh, Ohio
Source: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
