The remains of two soldiers killed during World War II will be buried next week with full military honors.

U.S. Army Air Forces Sgt. Edward S. Kovaleski will be interred Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery, and U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Sanford G. Roy will be interred Tuesday at Chattanooga National Cemetery in Tennessee.

• Kovaleski, a native of Southbridge, Mass., was an engineer and ball turret gunner assigned to the 760th Bombardment Squadron, 460th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force, in the European and Mediterranean Theater. He was killed in action April 26, 1945, at age 25, after the B-24J Liberator aircraft he was aboard crashed near Hüttenberg, Austria, while en route to a bombing mission in northern Italy.

Kovaleski was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on June 4, 2024, after his remains were recovered from the crash site between 2021 and 2022 for laboratory analysis and identification.

• Roy, a native of Chattanooga, was a waist gunner assigned to the 732nd Bombardment Squadron, 453rd Bombardment Group, 2nd Combat Bomb Wing, 2nd Air Division, 8th Air Force in the European Theater. He was killed in action April 8, 1944, at age 31, after the B-24H “Liberator” aircraft he was aboard was shot down by enemy fighter aircraft fire while on a bombing mission to Brunswick, Germany.

Roy was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on June 20, 2024, after his remains were excavated from the crash site between 2021 and 2023 for laboratory analysis and identification.

About 81,000 American troops from past conflicts remain unaccounted for, according to the DPAA.

previous coverage

• B-24 gunner to be buried in Tennessee 81 years after being shot down in Germany