Veterans
Remains of WWII veteran return home to New York after 84 years
Stars and Stripes
May 6, 2026
Soldiers assigned to the New York Army National Guard Honor Guard salute as the coffin containing the remains of Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. Joseph L. Burke are moved toward a hearse at Albany International Airport in Latham on May 1, 2026, during a dignified transfer of remains. (Jamie Spaulding/U.S. Air National Guard)
After 84 years, the remains of a World War II veteran have finally returned to his hometown of Troy, N.Y., where a memorial service will be held on Thursday.
Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. Joseph Leroy “Roy” Burke was received by members of the New York National Guard, who performed a dignified transfer of his casket at Albany International Airport on May 1, according to a service news release.
The soldiers will also render funeral honors during the memorial service at Siena University where Burke went to college. He will then be interred at the Gerald B. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.
Soldiers assigned to the New York Army National Guard Honor Guard prepare to carry the coffin containing the remains of Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. Joseph L. Burke from a Southwest airliner to a waiting hearse at Albany International Airport in Latham on Friday, May 1, 2026, during a dignified transfer of remains. (Jamie Spaulding/U.S. Air National Guard)
“It’s one of the highest honors we can give anybody,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Gosse, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the state’s honor guard. “We want to give him as much respect as possible.”
With no immediate family members still alive to witness his return, the homecoming serves as a long-awaited moment of closure.
“To see the coffin come off, the honor guard go out, his dog tags hanging from the front, it’s just, it’s a lot,” said John Burke, a nephew.
Burke was captured by Japanese forces in the Philippines in May 1942 and held as a prisoner for over two years. He was killed inadvertently by U.S. forces in January 1945 as he was being transported to Japan on an unmarked ship, the release said.
His remains went unidentified and were buried with other unknowns at the National Military Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. In 2025, DNA from a relative helped the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency confirm his identity, the release said.
Army Air Corps 2nd Lt. Joseph Leroy “Roy” Burke and his parents Kathryn and William, prior to his deployment to the Philippines in 1941. (John Burke via DVIDS)