Family finds peace following after the identification of Chattanooga World War II airman’s remains

Pictures of Sgt. Sanford Roy both in and out of uniform, killed in a bombing raid in Nazi Germany in 1944.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)-  For eight decades, a Chattanooga family has had a question they didn’t know the answer to.

What happened to Sergeant Sanford Roy in 1944 when he went missing on a bombing mission during World War II in Nazi Germany?

Sergeant Sanford Roy was born right here in Chattanooga in 1913.

He lived here all of his life, graduating from Central High School (now the Chattanooga School for Creative Arts), working jobs at the TVA in its infancy, and helping paint some of the early Rock City barns.

However, he felt a calling and volunteered to serve his country against a great evil, a sacrifice so significant it took 80 years for his family to find out exactly where he gave his life for our country.

During that bombing mission on April 8, 1944, over a small German town called Salzwedel, Sergeant Roy and nine others were shot down.

As the area they were killed in ultimately fell in the hands of East Germany, no searching could be done for decades during the Cold War.

Even when German reunification happened, it was still decades before the family received any updates on his whereabouts due to a farmer not allowing U.S. military personnel to search his land for decades.

Eventually, that farmer changed his mind which led to a big discovery.

Sgt. Roy’s great nephew Charles Broadrick said, “I know the Army had gotten in contact with us that the plane had been found.”

After more years of excavation, eventually remains were discovered and identified as Sergeant Roy, finally answering what happened to him.

His family says that 25 percent of his remains were found, with ultimately his dental work playing a key factor in the identification of him.

Not everyone who loved Sgt. Roy lived to see this day, as his parents and siblings have all since passed away in the last 80 years.

Greg Roy, another great nephew of Sgt. Roy, said, “My dad, her dad, her sisters weren’t here to be a part of this closure.  I got really excited when they talked about finding the plane and found some human remains and started the DNA testing. I just started thinking about all of those before us that are not here to see the closure.”

However, his memory lives on through the stories they tell.

Roy said, “Well he was single, wasn’t married. So he took care of his nephews teaching them stuff in a way an uncle would. Teaching them to ride bikes.”

Sgt. Roy’s great niece, Darla Blazek, added, “He was their favorite uncle.”

“He took them in since he didn’t have any children of his own,” said Roy.

They say this experience of rediscovering his remains has brought them closer together, as they had drifted apart through their busy lives after being close as children.

“This has brought us all together and we had talked about keeping our lives together for the sake of our great-grandparents and our great uncle,” said Blazek.

They hope this story and Sgt. Roy’s sacrifice will inspire those here in Chattanooga and far beyond, showing that he had the volunteer spirit we pride ourselves in having as Tennesseans.

His great-great niece, Casey Lapp, said, “It’s the most brutal form of how love shows up is to be able to go and defend go other and be willing to give your life. It’s tragic but beautiful at the same time.”

Now his family is going to be able to do what they haven’t been able to for eight decades, give him a proper memorial service at the Chattanooga National Cemetery on April 8, 2025 on the 81st anniversary of his passing.

They say they want to have the service open to the public, as they look to spread Sgt. Roy’s story.