WWII Widow Waits 60 Years to Learn Husband's Fate, Truth Discovered in Small French Village (VIDEO)

By Eric Corpus, Friday, March 14, 2014

For six decades, Peggy Harris of Vernon, Tex. wondered about the fate of her husband Billie. Six weeks after their wedding, the airman was deployed to fight in World War II. His last recorded mission was July 17, 1944 in France, and he was never heard from again. Still, Peggy remained faithful to her missing husband.

"Billy was married to me all of his life," Peggy says in this CBS News video. "And I choose to be married to him all of my life."

Over the years, she repeatedly asked her representatives in Congress for help in learning Billie's fate. In 2005, U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry responded that Billie was "still listed as 'missing in action' in the National Archives." However, when Billie's cousin, Alton Harvey, later requested his military records, the truth was plainly marked: "KIA," meaning "killed in action."

Peggy learned that Billie was buried at the famous American cemetery in Normandy, France, and she now sends flowers to his grave throughout the year. When she finally visited, she found out her husband is not only loved and remembered at home, but he's revered in the small village where his plane crashed.

Peggy holds no grudge against Rep. Thornberry, who apologized on Facebook for the "mishandling" of her request. "You have to learn to be forgiving," she says. And now she has the peace of knowing the truth, and knowing just how beloved her Billie is.