Ralph Vincent Shaffer entered the military service in Ohio. He served in the 706th Bomber Squadron, 446th Bomber Group, Heavy as a Second Lieutenant and Pilot on the B24 #41-29177 "Ginger" aircraft during World War II. His B-24 "Ginger" crashed near Saarbruecken Germany on August 26, 1944, after being hit by flak over Ludwigshafen Germany. As a pilot, he was the last to bail out; other crew members stated that his chute opened normally, but no trace of him was ever found. His name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Cambridge American Cemetery, Cambridge, United Kingdom. His name is also honored on a monument at the Lisnabreeny Former American Cemetery monument in England.