James L. Harris

On the night of October 7, 1944, at Vagney, France, an enemy raiding party of a tank and two platoons of infantry slipped through the lines and hit an infantry battalion command post with hand grenades, according to Harris's Medal of Honor citation. Lieutenant Harris, commanding a Sherman, went ahead of his six-man patrol on foot with only a pistol. Struck by machine-gun fire, he crawled back, directed fire from the road and held the raiders until other tanks approached. A second wound severed his leg. The medal was awarded on April 23, 1945.

What the plaque says

James L. Harris James Lindell Harris was born on June 27, 1916 to Albert Lee and bessie harris at the family farm near hillsboro. He entered the army on March 20, 1941 and trained at Fort Sam Houston with the armored division. Harris was assigned to the 756th tank battalion and led his unit through North Africa and Europe. In vagney, France, Harris and his men encountered German troops. Although mortally wounded he continued to lead his men until allied tanks arrived, and refused medical attention until a member of his crew had been carried to safety. In recognition of his bravery, Harris was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Harris is buried at Ridge Park Cemetery in Hillsboro. (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hill County Courthouse — steps away
  Wesley C. Dodson's limestone Second Empire courthouse of 1890 on the Hillsboro square, gutted by fire on New Year's Day 1993 and rededicated in 1999 after a rebuilding that two Willie Nelson concerts helped pay for.
• Cleburne State Park — 30 mi
  A 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps park on the old Chisholm Trail crossing country, with a spring-fed lake, a hand-carved three-tiered spillway and a CCC bridge in Johnson County.
• Bosque Museum — 31 mi
  A Clifton museum holding what it calls the largest repository of Norwegian artifacts in the South and Southwest, with Bosque County finds some 10,000 years old and a log cabin built by the Olson family.

More markers nearby

• Hill County — steps away
• Site of Old Lexington Village — steps away
• Bragg Williams Lynching — steps away
• City of Hillsboro — steps away