Harris, Ernest Owen, born on 22-09-1920, on a farm in the small town of Havensville, Kansas. 
His parents, Isla, born Eddy and John, Sr., Harris, had four children: John, Jr., Genevieve, E.O., and Warren G., all of whom attended Havensville High School and Kansas State University.
While Harris, here on the right 
was young, his father, a grain farmer, also attended Kansas State to become a veterinarian, eventually becoming the State Veterinarian of Kansas. Not only did all four children graduate college, but all except Harris (who went directly to paratrooper training) continued their education to master’s or Ph.D. levels. Isla and John, Sr. moved to Manhattan, Kansas so their children could live at home while attending Kansas State University.
Descendents of two prominent town families, the Harris children lived comfortably, even during the Great Depression. According to one source, John, Sr., was very active during the Depression, “taking in stock…that had to be destroyed.” Harris was “a quiet, gentle soul” who “had it all together,” according to his cousin, Mary Eddy Stewart. He enjoyed life, but not to the point where one had to worry about him on a Saturday night. In high school, Harris played football and basketball. In the summers, he would also play baseball, often followed by family gatherings on the porch of the Harris farmhouse to make homemade ice cream.
In January 1942, after graduating from Kansas State University, 
Harris attended parachute training at Fort Benning 
, Georgia, becoming the first in his family to join the war. His volunteering for, and acceptance into, paratrooper school (one of the most selective programs in the military) was especially impressive to his family, among whom he was already “very much admired,” according his cousin, Bill Eddy.
In August 1943, his unit transferred to England, where the 101st Airborne Division (known as the Screaming Eagles) 
, under command of General Maxwell Davenport Taylor, 
, participated in preparatory exercises for the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. Harris, now a First Lieutenant, joined Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment. 
under command of Brigade General Steve Archie Chappuis 
In the early hours of June 6, approximately 6,600 paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division dropped from 432 C-47s 
west of Utah Beach. Their mission included the capture of causeway bridges between Saint Martin-de-Varreville and Pouppeville, softening German defenses between National Road 13 and the shore, and aiding in the capture of Carentan to link the Omaha and Utah beachheads.
At roughly 10 p.m. on June 5, the paratroopers left England, 
waved goodbye by General Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower.
When the pathfinder planes and C-47 aircraft entered Norman airspace, they encountered heavy cloud cover as well as intense enemy fire and flak. Formations broke apart, and the drops were scattered around the Cotentin Peninsula.
The German High Command received so many reports of Allied troops in different locations that they could not fully assess the size of the invading force and were therefore slower to respond. However, around 60 percent of the equipment that was dropped was lost, many paratroopers were killed before they even landed in France, and many more were captured or killed once they did.
Shortly after landing, Harris, 
here on the right with his brother Warren during their college years 1938-1942, along with Major John P. Stopka 
and 13 other paratroopers, realized they had been dropped in the wrong place. The group made their way to Ravenoville, but encountered a stronghold of the enemy in the vicinity of Marmion.
Ordered to secure a right flank, Harris took two men and attacked a garrison, making so much noise doing so that the enemy soldiers believed he had a small army with him. Six enemy soldiers were killed; 24 were taken prisoner. He took the two men and attacked a nearby trench, “jumping, shouting, firing his rifle and generally making quite a scene,” according to Stopka. The other two men crawling behind him were, at first, “rather timid and afraid” but eventually were so inspired by the actions of Harris that they joined in. Ten minutes later, they had taken the trench, one pill box, two machine guns, and “several machine pistols.”
The captured farm 
contained vehicles, a first aid station, and an ammunition dump, and it was the headquarters of approximately 200 German soldiers. It was the primary enemy stronghold from Saint-Germain-de-Varreville to Ravenoville. Hours of “almost ceaseless combat, against great odds,” followed, according to the commanding officer of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment. These men held the Marmion farm in this fashion for 30 hours. For his actions on June 6, 1944, Harris was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Death and burial ground of Harris, Ernest Owen.
By 11-06-1944, Harris reported to Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole. 
Cole’s team crossed the four consecutive bridges which spanned the waterways north of the target city of Carentan and established a bridgehead. After more than an hour of being flattened into a marshy swamp by ceaseless enemy fire, Cole had two choices: a retreat or a fixed bayonet charge. Cole ordered, “Strip for a bayonet attack. Let’s get out of this damn swamp!” The message was passed from soldier to soldier: “The Old Man wants it done with steel.”
Lieutenant Colonel Cole ordered a smoke screen and led the assault himself. Known as “Cole’s Charge,” it was the first bayonet charge of World War II, and while it proved successful, 130 of Cole’s 265 men became casualties. Robert Cole would later died in Best close to my hometown Eindhoven,in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden, killed by a sniper. I met his son Bruce who came to Holland to visit the spot and the monument, with the original medal of honor, overthere 
First Lieutenant Ernest Owen Harris lost his life that day. He died as he fought: in a courageous, audacious, and valiant demonstration of improvisation and adherence to duty. He was 23 years old..Ernest Owen Harris is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France, Plot F, Row 16, Grave 9,
Casualties of the 101 Airborne Division during their European Campaign, Total battle casualties:9.328, killed in action: 1.766, wounded in action: 6.388, missing in action: 207 and prisoner of war: 967.
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