COLUMBIA, S.C. — A soldier who was killed fighting overseas was laid to rest Tuesday at Fort Jackson National Cemetery, in a journey that spanned over 80 years.
On Monday, Bob Pittman sat on the porch of his West Columbia home, in the rocking chair that had been reserved for his late wife, and opened up about his uncle, Army Air Corps 2nd Lieutenant, John Harvey Harris.
“I only met him one time that I can remember, and he was born in 1920 and I was born in 1937,” Pittman began.
Harris, a World War II Army Air Corps bombardier, was killed in action in April 1944 after a bombing run over Brunswick, Germany.
The Ford B24 Liberator Harris and the other nine members of the crew were aboard crashed, but the Army wasn’t sure of the plane's final location.
“They told them (the soldier's families) it crashed in the English Channel, and then they came back later and said ‘No, it crashed in the ocean,’” Pittman explained.
It wasn’t until 2015, 71 years after the crash, that an eyewitness came forward with a clue about where the plane had really gone down.
“Well, it just so happened that a 14 or 15-year-old child saw the plane crash, and he’s the one that told them where to look,” Pittman said.
It turns out, the crash site was nowhere near the water.
Pittman said the plane had actually crashed in a field that had been freshly plowed and embedded itself about 10 feet deep.
Even though several sets of dog tags had been recovered from the crash site, the Army was having difficulty matching the DNA from the remains to anyone in their database.
That’s when officials turned to Ancestry.com.
Using the DNA matching features of the popular genealogy site, the Army was eventually able to locate Pittman.
Before his uncle’s remains were returned to the family, the Army return several items that had been found at the German crash site.
“I have his dog tags in there that they sent me, his wings that were on his uniform, and also his high school ring from Tifton, Ohio,” Pittman said.
The Army arranged to fly the remains of 2nd Lieutenant Harris to Charlotte.
Friday, Pittman was at the airport as the flag-draped casket carrying his uncle arrived He took a moment to pay his respects, before an honor guard escorted the casket to a Lexington funeral home.
Tuesday afternoon, Harris was laid to rest at Fort Jackson National Cemetery, after receiving full military funeral honors, including a rifle detail and the playing of taps.
Pittman said after the service that he was thinking of his mother, and how relieved and happy she would have been to know that finally, after 80 years, her brother John had come home.