Pearl Harbor attack survivor dies on Sept. 11 from COVID-19 in Columbus
Retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer James “Dixie” Harris, the only survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack living in Columbus, died in hospice care Sept. 11 from the COVID-19.
He was 98.
A private funeral will include military burial honors after his family fought an original decision to deny the request due to coronavirus precautions, granddaughter Andrea Johnson of Tennessee told the Ledger-Enquirer in a phone interview Tuesday.
“That was something he really wanted,” she said. “… We would be damned if we were going to let COVID steal that from him. It took his life, but it wasn’t going to take his honor.”
Local and state veteran organizations, including VFW Post 665 in Columbus and the Georgia VFW in Macon, worked together to organize a three-man rifle volley salute to be performed at the funeral, she said.
Amid her grief, Johnson is consoled by appreciating the symbolism of her grandfather’s date and cause of death.
“It’s important that America stays vigilant and not lose sight, not lose awareness of our history, but also that we need to keep watch on what’s happening,” she said. “. . . To be able to survive (the Pearl Harbor attack) and then to pass on 9/11, I mean, our family just finds it fitting.”
His service
Born on Aug. 7, 1922, Harris learned how to work hard on his family’s farm in Pleasant Hill, Georgia, during the Great Depression. He was 18 when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, starting a 22-year military career that included serving in the Pacific during World War II.
After retiring from the Navy, Harris sold life insurance and cars, then served the nation again working 16 years for the U.S. Postal Service. He tested the first automated zip code detection equipment stationed in Columbus, Johnson said.
Harris became chairman of the Georgia Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. He shared his Pearl Harbor experience as a guest speaker at schools and other organizations.
Wynnbrook Baptist Church was another outlet for Harris to connect with his community. He participated in several ministries, including the men’s Sunday school and visitation outreach.
Married three times, Harris outlived his first two wives but helped keep all of his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren united as a family, Johnson said.
“He was a Christian man who was there for so many people,” she said. “… He has loved all of us like we were all his own.”
His spirit
Harris had a soaring spirit that belied his age.
“When he would start a conversation with you,” Johnson said, “it was never, ‘Oh, my joints hurt’ or anything like that. It was, ‘Hey, baby girl, I got a funny joke I just heard’ or, ‘How is so-and-so doing with their schoolwork?’ His mind was so sharp.”
Even when Harris was hospitalized with the coronavirus, Johnson said, he was more focused on the nurses than his health.
“When they came into his room, he knew their names,” she said. “He was interested in people. He loved investing in and being woven into people’s lives. … Whether you were family or not, you were a person to him and God’s child, so he loved you, and he was going to make you a part of his life.”
Like a cat with nine lives, Johnson said, Harris often rallied from medical setbacks.
“People were like his magic juice,” she said. “He would thrive on interaction with people, so to not have that, that actually was harder on him. … It’s tragic that he survived everything he did, but he was taken by this silent killer. But to me, it’s appropriate that he passed away on 9/11, because he was a hero.”
The values Harris embodied, Johnson said, are summarized in his priorities.
“God was first in his life, then his family and his country,” she said. “Those were the top three things that kept him going. Everything else kind of fell in line with that.”
