The ground he died for: Long-lost Tennessee World War II veteran buried at Arlington

Read moreComing home to stay: Tennessee country boy GI who gave all in WWII finally gets his wish

photo Edwin Harris holds a photo of his father, Cecil Harris. Hikers found the remains of Cecil Harris in France.

After a trip that took almost 70 years and went halfway around the world and back, a Shelbyville, Tenn., farm boy who fought and died for his country on a French hillside finally got the send-off, the respect, the place of honor he earned with his life.

U.S. Army Pvt. First Class Cecil E. Harris was laid to rest Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, on the American soil he died defending. He was killed in action Jan. 2, 1945, near Dambach, France, at age 19.

Family members said the service under a raw, rainy sky was an emotional, stirring event.

"He got what he deserved. It was real special," Cecil Harris' son, William Edwin Harris, said afterward. Eddie Harris never knew his father, and Cecil Harris had met his only son once a few months after he was born in 1944. Then it was off to war.

"They had the white horses, the caisson, the band, the 21-gun salute, the whole works," said Harris, a retired veteran of the Vietnam and the Persian Gulf wars who grew up in Grundy County. "It was kind of an emotional mood."

Harris, now 70, and his 43-year-old daughter, Christie Laws, braved wet, chilly weather to bid a final farewell to the man they never knew but longed to meet. The father and daughter from Mountain City, Tenn., were joined by Cecil Harris' sister, Janice, and her children, from the Shelbyville area.

Wednesday's service at Arlington drew a contingent of Washington, D.C., officials representing Tennessee and others, including U.S. Consulate General to Strasbourg Evan G. Reade, who was instrumental in the recovery of Cecil Harris' remains and his return to American soil, Edwin Harris said.

Laws said that meeting Reade in person was something she had been waiting for a year.

Wednesday's service brought Cecil Harris' story full circle, from a Tennessee farm to the hills of Eastern France and finally a return home to American soil 69 years later.

Harris' remains were found by French hiker Vito DeLuca in late August 2013 while he was taking a rest at the foot of a rock formation and noticed an "H" and a small cross scratched into the stone.

DeLuca dug into the earth at the foot of the rock formation then, realizing that a fallen soldier might lay in the soil at his feet, stopped and summoned his friend Eric Schell, a World War II history buff, and two other friends, Sean Schulz and Pierre Landauer.

Within days, military officials in France confirmed the remains as those of a U.S. soldier. Over the next few weeks thay confirmed through DNA analysis that the remains were those of Cecil E. Harris, who had been reported missing in action and later presumed dead.

Recovery operations began last fall, and along the way forensic experts retrieved Harris' dog tags, some uniform buttons and insignia, unspent ammunition and parts of a human skeleton that belonged to the Tennessee father who longed to return home.

Harris was serving in the 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division's Company D on Jan. 2, 1945, as it battled with German forces over the ridges of the Vosges Mountains.

Harris family members said earlier this year that they were stunned by the news that their lost loved one had been found on the wooded French hillside where he fell to German gunfire.

Now, they say their final goodbyes.

"It was a hard road to get here but we got it done," Edwin Harris said.

Cecil Harris' wife, Helen Harris Cooke, attended her late husband's service in Red Bank in August but was unable to attend Wednesday's service, though she hopes to visit soon.

"If Helen is able to travel, we may take her there in the spring," Helen Cooke's daughter-in-law Vickey Cooke said this week.

photo Members of the Army's 3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) lower the coffin containing the remains of WWII Army Pfc. Cecil E. Harris, during burial services at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on Oct. 22, 2014.

Cecil Harris posthumously received the Combat Infantry Badge, the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He had also received the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal.

On Wednesday, U.S. flags at state office buildings across Tennessee flew at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on orders from Gov. Bill Haslam, who declared Wednesday a day of mourning for Tennessee's fallen hero.

And Harris' legacy isn't lost on the people of France, Lindauer said in one of his correspondences with the family.

"That the soldier be thanked and honored for his work, his dedication and sacrifice for the liberation of our country from the Nazi dictatorship," he wrote.

Schell, the history buff, also wrote the family in June about the impact of Cecil Harris' sacrifice.

Although they were written a few months ago, his words seem to fit Wednesday's ceremonies.

"What we do today is a drop of water and incommensurate with respect to the sacrifice made by your grandfather and his comrades. We are grateful for their action. We owe them [our] freedom and we are well aware of the price they had to pay for it. I would so loved that these soldiers could see what they have managed to do. We must keep alive the memory of those soldiers.

"It's important for them and it is our duty to future generations."

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or twitter.com/BenBenton or www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.

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