Chuckie is is the only member of the 36th Bombardment Squadron and lone Carpetbagger buried at Rhone American Cemetery in the city of Draguignan which is located in Southern France. The squadron conducted special operations and electronic warfare missions over Europe from 1943 until the end of the war. By the end of World War II, several hundred temporary burial grounds had been established by the U.S. Army on battlefields around the world. In 1947, 14 sites overseas were selected to become permanent cemeteries by the Secretary of the Army and ABMC and included Rhone American Cemetery.  Chuckie was interred there on 21 December 1948.

Draguignan, is the final resting place for 860 American war dead, most of whom lost their lives in the liberation of southern France in August 1944. Their headstones are arranged in straight lines, divided into four plots, grouped about an oval pool. At each end of the cemetery is a secluded garden and fountain surrounded by the characteristic cypresses, olive trees, and oleanders of southern France.

The American Battle Monuments Commission, established by Congress in 1923, is an agency of the executive branch of the federal government. ABMC—guardian of America’s overseas commemorative cemeteries and memorials—honors the service, achievements and sacrifice of U.S. Armed Forces. Each grave site in the overseas American World War I and II cemeteries is marked by a headstone of pristine white marble. 

The cemetery grounds are not American territory. However, use of the land is granted to the United States in perpetuity, free of any taxes, fees or any other charges. This is done through a treaty between the United States and France. Burial in ABMC cemeteries is limited by the agreements with host countries to members of the U.S. armed forces who died overseas during the wars. 

On the hillside overlooking the cemetery stands the magnificent chapel with its beautiful, decorative mosaic. On the retaining wall of the terrace are inscribed the names of 294 of the missing.

On the façade of the chapel is the sculpture of the Angel of Peace watching over the graves. Beneath the sculpture is the engraving, “Those who lie here died that future generations might live in peace.”

Between the chapel and the burial area, the great bronze relief map recalls the military operations in the region.

Unlike the national cemeteries administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, all permanent American military cemeteries on foreign soil are “closed” except for the remains of servicemen and women lost during World War I and World War II that may be found on the battlefields or recently identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.