After Battles Overseas, Marine Veteran Faces Battles At Home

First Lt. James Harris has faced battles overseas during his 23-year career in the military and now is locked in the fight of his life.

The retired U.S. Marine Corps sniper spent a good portion of his time on Earth protecting our country; now, he is battling his second round of cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

“I got out (of the military) in 2009 and that’s when I had my first cancer battle – prostate,” the Philadelphia resident said. “It must have, you know … metastasised … and now it’s spread.”

Despite his diagnosis and cancer fight ahead, Harris said he has to keep a positive attitude and is thankful to God that he wakes up every day.

“You can’t let it get you down,” he said. “I’m here and I woke up.”

It’s been a tough few years since Harris left the military, where he served in combat in Operation Desert Storm and also recent tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Harris was among the dozens of veterans who came to Bristol Township over the weekend to relax at Philadelphia Stand Down, an event that helps down-on-their-luck veterans get back on their feet.

Harris lives and works at a facility run by the Veterans Affairs Administration. He cooks and helps take care of about 25 fellow veterans. At Stand Down, he volunteered to be a leader for one of the tents set up in a field by the Levittown Library. He spent much of his weekend watching over his campmates and ensuring Stand Down ran smoothly.

“I love this,” he said of Stand Down. “It reminds me of being back on compound (the military base), except there were 2,000 or 5,000 people on the compound.”

Harris listened to the rock band play Friday and also talked with his fellow veterans, seeming to take in every moment.

While the VA often gets a bad rap for recent failures and lack of oversight, Harris said he owes a lot to the government department. He said they’ve helped him keep his life on track after a hard adjustment following the end of his military career and first cancer battle.

“Ms. Angela Wright at the VA helped me. She got me going to the doctor. I’m here because of her.”

In addition, his visits to the VA have yielded him a positive influence in his life – his loving girlfriend Michelle, a fellow veteran, who helps him keep everything together.

“I was just at the right place at the right time,” he said with a laugh.

Inside a tent at Stand Down, Harris recalled his time as a combat sniper and talked about how his father, the first black chief of police in his Delaware hometown and a Marine veteran, took him to the gun range from a young age.

“I started with the 9mm and moved up to a rifle,” he said. “I had a good shot, I guess.”

Harris went from his small town in Delaware to Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland and graduated with a degree in criminal justice in 1986. Just as his father did, he enlisted in the Marines.

His career in the military and experience on the battlefield has prepared Harris for nearly everything, including death. More recently, the murder of his 28-year-old daughter has given him a lesson on death on the homefront.

“I’ve seen death over there and over here,” he said. “I’m in a lot of pain (from the cancer treatments) and trying to raise two 8-year-old twin girls. They were my daughter’s. I just got to keep going.”

“Nothing else I can do but get up.”