Humble hero: Historian elevating unsung South Dakota war hero legacy

The untold story of Cecil Harris, WWII naval fighter legend

Foreground: South Dakotans Harold Thune, left, and Cecil Harris, the Navy’s second highest scoring ace of World War II. Background: The USS Intrepid underway in the Pacific preparing to launch a squadron of F-6 Hellcats. Credit: Naval Heritage and Historic Command collection.

1944 brought an aggressive push by United States forces in the Pacific during a pivotal point of World War II, while Japan threw everything it had against the American offensive. A single Naval fighter squadron anchored by a heroic, modest and deadly South Dakotan stood out.

Cecil Harris, a Faulkton native whose legacy largely flew below the public radar, led an aerial fleet adept at shooting down Japanese planes and executing special flight missions with record-setting efficiency. The Northern State University graduate returned home at the age of 28 as the Navy’s second-highest scoring combat pilot – and among the top aces in all of U.S. history.

Harris served through the Korean Conflict, becoming an administrative officer at the Pentagon before retiring from Naval service in 1967. Harris died 14 years later on his 65th birthday.

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