Events › Special Memorial Service for Norton V. Retzsch

The Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, partnering with the Cincinnati veteran organization The USS Hornet Breakfast Group, will hold a memorial service for Pvt Retzsch starting at 2:30 p.m., at the Veteran Memorial Wall, located on the second floor of the Main Library. Retzsch‘s military honors, taking place at the cemetery, is scheduled to be live streamed at 3 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Before joining the Marines in 1941, Retzsch worked at the Main Library for seven years as a page.

Declared missing in action 83 years ago, Private First-Class Norton V. Retzsch of the U.S. Marines has finally been identified. The Cincinnati native disappeared during the 1943 Battle of Enogai in the Solomon Islands during World War II. Thanks to modern DNA analysis, his remains were recently accounted for, and he will be buried with full honors in a national cemetery in Arizona, near relatives, on April 13, 2026.