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