OTTUMWA, Iowa (KYOU) -

A mile long motorcade passed through Centerville with people paying respects on the shoulders of Highway 5 to commemorate a combat veteran that gets laid to rest in his hometown after 81 years of uncertainty.

With TAPS playing on the trumpet, hundreds gathered at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Cincinnati in memory of Private First Class - James Lee Harrington.

Harrington was 21 when a landing craft he and 200 others were on hit an underwater mine near Normandy, France.

One man said D-Day had, “one singular purpose of liberating a continent and preserving the light of freedom for the world. “

His remains were unknown. But in 2023, testing showed a familial connection to help identify his remains.

Appanoose County Historical Author, Enfys McMurray, spoke of her rememb

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