The Prairie View A&M Panthers went 80 games without a win in college football. The Chicago Cubs’ infamous streak without a World Series championship in baseball spanned 108 years. Both of those streaks began and ended while Simon Harris waited for his Medal of Honor.

The U.S. Army veteran and long-time Kokomo resident earned the medal for his actions in the Philippine Insurrection of 1899. It was approved by the U.S. government in 1906, but the letter informing him of the honor never arrived and Harris lived to the age of 89 not knowing of this recognition.

That all changed last year. Thanks to the efforts of Harris’s family, the Texas-based historian who discovered the error, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1152 in Kokomo, the long-overdue medal was presented to the family in January 2025 by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, who had advocated for the issuance of the medal while serving as a U.S. senator. And on Oct. 31, 2025, a crowd gathered in Memorial Park Cemetery to recognize Harris’s service after a 119-year wait. The ceremony centered on the replacement of Harris’s headstone, which now reflects his service. The slab of white marble is emblazoned with his name in gold, along with the Medal of Honor emblem, a gold star within a wreath.

Since the Civil War, only 3,547 service members have received the Medal of Honor, less than one ten-thousandth of a percent of the 40 million Americans who have served in the armed forces. William Simon Harris is the only one from Howard County.

Harris enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1898, and he was assigned to the 4th U.S. Cavalry. In 1899, his unit was deployed in the Philippine insurrection. Here is the citation for the honor, as declared by President Theodore Roosevelt, when it was approved.

“Private William S. Harris distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on May 13, 1899, while serving as a member of Troop G, 4th United States Cavalry at San Miguel de Mayumo, Luzon, Philippine Islands. On this occasion about 300 of the enemy were drawn up in line in an advantageous position requiring a frontal attack. Without waiting for the supporting battalion to reinforce them, or to get into a position to do so, Private Harris and 11 other Scouts charged the line of the enemy, about 150 yards distant, and completely routed them. Private Harris’ conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism, and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.”

Harris was born in Casey, Illinois, in 1873. He spent most of his adult life in the Kokomo area, where he and his wife raised a son and a daughter. Research indicates his occupations included connections with the Nickel Plate railroad, a Kokomo brass works and Kingston Products. He died in Kokomo in 1963.