Mary Troyan

The Tennessean, Nashville

WASHINGTON — Almost 70 years after he died battling German troops in northeastern France, Army Pvt. 1st Class Cecil Harris of Shelbyville was buried Wednesday with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

"In life, he honored the flag, and in death, the flag will honor him," U.S. Army Chaplain Capt. Ted Randall said during the graveside service.

Harris was killed Jan. 2, 1945, but his remains weren't found until last year, by French hikers.

In a cold, soaking rain, about 15 family members from Tennessee and several others followed the horse-drawn caisson carrying Harris' flag-draped casket down McClellan Drive at the cemetery while the U.S. Army Band, known as "Pershing's Own," played "Onward Christian Soldiers."

"I'm just proud I got to follow him before they put him in the resting place," said William Edwin "Eddie" Harris, who was an infant the only time he met his father.

Cecil Harris was 19 when he left Shelbyville and his pregnant wife, Helen, to fight in World War II. Helen Harris Cooke, 90, was unable to travel to northern Virginia for the burial, Eddie Harris said. Janice Carlton, who was 10 when her brother died, was among the mourners Wednesday.

"I feel relieved that we got him back and buried with honors where he deserved," Eddie Harris said after the services. "I wondered for 70 years whatever happened to him."

Harris qualified for full military honors, a crisp, dignified ceremony performed by the Army's 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard. The services include a caisson, an escort platoon, a colors team, a casket team, three rifle volleys from a firing team and a band.

The bugler, Army Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Northman, played "Taps" after the chaplain's remarks.

"PFC Cecil Edwin Harris served our nation with honor and distinction," the chaplain said. "He earned his place on these hallowed grounds."

Harris was a member of the rifle platoon with Company D, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. He received the Combat Infantryman Badge, the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

While the band played "America the Beautiful" and the rain fell harder, the Old Guard soldiers folded the U.S. flag that had been covering the casket. The flag was presented to Eddie Harris by retired Lt. Gen. Bill Phillips of Bell Buckle, Tenn., near where Cecil Harris grew up.

Eddie Harris has a frame for the flag at his home in Mountain City, Tenn., and plans to hang it on the wall near his bed.

"I never did think this day would come," he said.