GRAFTON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Flags will fly at half-staff across Wisconsin Saturday in honor of a World War II veteran whose remains were recently identified.
Army Air Forces First Lt. Roy Coulson Harms’ plane was shot down on Aug. 1, 1943, near Ploesti, Romania. The Grafton native’s remains were not identified following the war, and and were later buried at Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.
In 2017, the military began exhuming remains for DNA analysis. The identification of Harms’ remains was announced last December.
“We are glad to be able to welcome First Lieutenant Roy Coulson Harms home and that he can finally be laid to rest in his home state,” Gov. Tony Evers said in announcing the flag-lowering order. “First Lieutenant Harms gave his life fighting for the values and freedoms we hold dear, and the state will forever remember his courageous service and sacrifice.”
Harms is scheduled to be buried in Grafton on Saturday.
Meanwhile, flags will also be lowered on Sunday in honor of National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend.
