Woman meets soldier's family 46 years after she put on bracelet
FORT GIBSON — Melody Vaught put on her POW/ MIA bracelet and, except for a brief period during surgery for a broken wrist, never took it off for the next 46 years.
“It was a part of me,” she said. “He was my soldier. I wasn’t taking it off until I knew he was home.”
The remains of Army Staff Sgt. Bobby Harris, who died in Vietnam, were positively identified through DNA in 2003 and buried at Fort Gibson National Cemetery in 2004. “I didn’t know anything about it,” said Vaught. “I searched and searched and searched for information but could never found out anything.”
Finally, after finding stories about Harris in the Tulsa World, she realized he was already home.
“I cried like a baby,” said Vaught, who discovered what happened through Tulsa World online stories she found last fall. “I knew then I had to visit his grave.”
Vaught met Julia Harris Whatley of Checotah, Harris’ sister-in-law, on Saturday at Fort Gibson National Cemetery.
“It was like seeing a sister,” said Whatley, who was married to Bobby’s brother. Richard Harris, who is buried next to his brother Bobby, was a Navy veteran. He died of cancer just a few months after Bobby was buried at Fort Gibson. The two brothers are buried in a corner of Section 20 of the cemetery.
“For many years, I’ve visited these graves.” said Whatley. “When I was contacted by Melody last fall, I was very excited to hear her story. We’ve exchanged a lot of stories about our families. We’ve talked so much. It is so great to finally meet this person that stayed with Bobby and waited for his return for so many years.”
Melody has worn that bracelet remembering Harris almost every minute since she bought it as a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.
“I always vowed I would visit him — if he came home — or his grave,” said Vaught, who made the 10-hour drive from central Kentucky to northeastern Oklahoma on Thursday. “This has been so emotional for me. I always called him my soldier. Every one in town knew about my soldier. I wore that bracelet everywhere.”
She had worn a POW/ MIA bracelet with the name of Harris for almost every day of 46 years. She brought it with her to the cemetery. She said after arriving on Thursday she couldn’t wait until Saturday so she “came out here on Friday and decorated his grave. I’ve waited so long I couldn’t wait. It was so emotional for me. The nice lady printed out a map for me and then a guy I met while looking for the grave helped me locate it. When I saw the grave it was so emotional. So many emotions waiting on this day.”