The wife of a Texas World War II soldier waited for more than 68 years for solid proof that her husband is either dead or alive. Then she learned the stunning truth in Normandy, France.
“Billie was married to me all of his life, and I choose to be married to him all of my life.”
Peggy S. Harris, a native of Vernon, Texas, was working at Altus AFB as an electrical instrument mechanic in 1942 when she first heard from 1st Lt. Billie D. Harris, a native of Altus, Okla.
“I worked with my husband’s father at that time,” Peggy said. “He was writing letters to [Billie], telling him about me, and I refused to write to him first or give him or his father my address. So he wrote a letter to me and put it in an envelope to his father to give to me. That was my first acquaintance with him.”
After that, they wrote letters back and forth.
“I tried to discourage him,” Peggy said. “I wrote to him that I loved opera and listened on Saturday afternoons. I thought that would turn any man off, but he wasn’t and he wrote back. I wrote him that I memorized poetry and he wrote back that he memorized poetry as well and he thought that was really great.”
“So over and over, when I tried to put him off, he still came back and wrote,” she said.
Peggy and Billie finally met in person in a hangar at Altus AFB.
“When he came home for leave, I hid in the cockpit of an airplane so he wouldn’t find me,” she said. “Then all of a sudden, even though I was crouched down in the cock pit, the door opened and there he was. Evidently, he saw me squatting in the plane.”
Since then, they were inseparable, Peggy said.
Peggy was married to 1st Lt. Billie Harris for only six weeks before he deployed in World War II.
“He wrote me that the ship was needed for wounded and he would come home as soon as there was space available,” Peggy said.
1st Lt. Harris flew his last mission over Normandy, France July 17, 1944 after which he never returned.
For more than 60 years, Peggy has been on a journey to find answers to her husband’s whereabouts.
He was first reported as missing, and then reported as alive and coming home. But Peggy later received a letter saying he was killed and buried at a certain cemetery, then another letter that said he was buried in another cemetery, and then was told that those remains weren’t her husband’s after all.
“And then Alton (Billie’s cousin) reached out and decided to request Billie’s military records,” Peggy said. “They told Alton in September (2005) that it would take six months, and then they called him back and said ‘you’ll never believe this, but six months ago a woman from France asked for these files and we sent copies to her’.”
Peggy and Alton attained the woman’s name and contacted her.
They were then informed that 1st Lt. Harris was buried in Normandy.
“The woman said that the people in Normandy wanted to have a parade and ceremony and she invited us to come,” Peggy said. “She told us to set the date, and we set it for Easter of 2006.”
Peggy also discovered that a small town in Normandy called Les Ventes named the main road “Place Billie D. Harris” where members of the town have marched down every year for 60 years to honor his sacrifice. 1st Lt. Harris veered the plane he flew into the woods, avoiding crashing into the town.
Peggy said that the people of Normandy welcomed her to their home with open arms.
Since then Peggy sends flowers to adorn her husband’s grave ten times a year–for anniversaries, Easter, his birthday, and Valentine’s Day to name a few.
At an assembly to honor U.S. Veterans at Vernon High School Nov. 12, the Altus AFB Blue Knights Honor Guard performed a flag folding ceremony in commemoration of 1st Lt. Billie D. Harris. The flag was presented to Peggy by Col. Ted Detwiler, 97th Operations Group commander.
“Veteran’s Day means so much to me, and always will,” Peggy said. “We will always remember.”
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A military cargo plane, flying over a populated area, suddenly loses power and starts to nose down. The pilot tries to pull up, but with all their cargo, the plane is too heavy. So he yells to the soldiers in back to throw things out to make the plane lighter.
They throw out a pistol. “Throw out more!” shouts the pilot. So they throw out a rifle. “More!” he cries again. They heave out a missile, and the pilot regains control. He pulls out of the dive and lands safely at an airport. They get into a jeep and drive off. Pretty soon they meet a boy on the side of the road who’s crying. They ask him why he’s crying and he says “A pistol hit me on the head!” They drive more and meet another boy who’s crying even harder. Again they ask why and the boy says, “A rifle hit me on the head!” They apologize and keep driving. They meet a boy on the sidewalk who’s laughing hysterically. They ask him, “Kid, what’s so funny?” The boy replies, “I farted and a house blew up!” |
According to a new SOFREP report, U.S. Troops ‘took turns dumping magazines-worth of ammunition’ into Bin Laden’s dead body.
This could be the real reason why Obama hasn’t released pictures of Bin Laden’s dead body.
A bullet for each 9/11 victim seems about right!
From SOFREP:
There are a lot of puzzled expressions on people’s faces when it comes to the subject of the late Osama Bin Laden and why the White House has not authorized the release of any pictures of the body.
Photographs and video were released of Saddam Hussein’s hanging, as well as post-mortem pictures of his criminal sons, Uday and Qusay, after Delta Force took them out. Why not release a few pictures of Public Enemy #1 to prove that he is dead and show the world what happens when you take on the US of A?
Matt Bissonnette, one of the SEAL Team Six operators on the raid, partially outs the reason in his book, No Easy Day. The book reads, “In his death throes, he was still twitching and convulsing. Another assaulter and I trained our lasers on his chest and fired several rounds. The bullets tore into him, slamming his body into the floor until he was motionless” (No Easy Day, Chapter 15).
But this is perhaps the most measured and polite description that one could give of how operator after operator took turns dumping magazines-worth of ammunition into Bin Laden’s body, two confidential sources within the community have told us. When all was said and done, UBL had over a hundred bullets in him, by the most conservative estimate.
But was it illegal? Under the Laws of Land Warfare, a soldier is fully authorized to put a few insurance rounds into his target after he goes down. Provided the enemy is not surrendering, it is morally, legally, and ethically appropriate to shoot the body a few times to ensure that he is really dead and no longer a threat. However, what happened on the Bin Laden raid is beyond excessive.
American hero William Guarnere, who lost a leg trying to help a wounded soldier during the Battle of the Bulge, died at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia this past Saturday from a ruptured aneurysm. He fought in some of the fiercest battles in World War II as part of Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. His exploits were also featured prominently in the HBO series “Band of Brothers”.
R.I.P. Wild Bill.
William “Wild Bill” Guarnere, a World War II veteran whose character was portrayed in the HBO series “Band of Brothers,” died Saturday night at 90 years old.
Guarnere was part of Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne Division — a group of troops renown for their steely resolve during combat. He took part in the Battle of the Bulge and saw combat from 1941 up until the end of the war in 1945. “Wild Bill’s” exploits were later immortalized in the television series “Band of Brothers” and after suffering a ruptured aneurysm, he passed away at the Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Daily Mail reports.
Guarnere lost a leg while rushing to the aid of a wounded soldier during the Battle of the Bulge, earning him his illustrious nickname “Wild Bill.” During his service, Guarnere was awarded the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.
In 2001, HBO began the critically acclaimed mini-series “Band of Brothers,” chronicling Guarnere’s and the rest of Easy Company’s journey through Europe. Actor Frank John Hughes played Guarnere.
With the passing of “Wild Bill,” it is believed there are only three surviving members of the original band of brothers.
Guarnere’s son, William Guarnere Jr., said his father “had a good, long life.”
