GRAFTON, Wis. — A soldier killed in World War II has been identified nearly 80 years after his death and will be buried in Grafton next weekend.
U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Roy Harms, a Grafton native, was killed in action on Aug. 1, 1943. He had been assigned to the 329th Bombardment Squadron, 93rd Bombardment Group.
Harms was killed when the B-24 Liberatory bomber he was piloting crashed after being hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire during Operation Tidal Wave. He was 26-years-old when he died.
His remains could not be identified following the war, so he was buried as an unknown in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
According to a news release from the U.S. Army Public Affairs office, following the war, the American Graves Registration Command disinterred all remains at the Bolovan Cemetery for identification.
More than 80 remains could not be identified and were moved to the Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
However, in 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began exhuming unknowns that were believed to be associated with Operation Tidal Wave. The remains were examined and identified at the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
On Aug. 2, 2022, Harms was accounted for. Now, a flower will be placed next to his name on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, to signify he has been accounted for.
His remains are being returned to Grafton for burial on Saturday, May 6. He will get an escort by the State Patrol and the Grafton Police Department, as he heads to the funeral home.
An honor squad from the Rose-Harms Legion Post, which was named in honor of Harms, will stand in honor at the funeral.
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