Theodore Harris
From USAFA Folklore
Lt Col Theodore Harris, USAF (Ret.) who spoke one night during my Hell Week, was the most inspirational speaker I remember. We knew him from his "If I can't go back with my self respect, I won't go back at all" comments, and he was every inch an officer and a hero. His ashes are evidently interred at the USAFA cemetery, even though he was not a graduate of the Academy. His presence there honors all graduates.
A B-29 pilot during the Korean War, he was best known for his refusal to be repatriated because the communists wanted him to admit to false claims that he had engaged in germ warfare.
Though Harris was not an academy graduate, his family requested that he be interred at the school. Harris, a Silver Star recipient, had spent many hours volunteering at the academy, teaching cadets about survival techniques, she said. Superintendent Lt. Gen. John W. Rosa approved the request in November 2003. Harris’ ashes were buried with full military honors and a B-2 fly over on May 7, 2004. He was 80 years old at the time of his death.
