The newborn daughter of a fallen soldier took part in a photo session with his former Army unit to honor the child’s birth.
Spc. Chris Harris, 25, was killed in Afghanistan in August by an improvised explosive device (IED) just days after he learned he was going to be a father.
Christian Michelle Harris was born March 17.
“He was an unforgettable personality,” Britt Harris, the mother of Christian and widow of Chris, told ABC News. “Being in the Army was his second biggest goal in life. Number one was being a dad.”
Harris joined the Army in 2013 and was eventually assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, according to a statement by the division.
His deployment to Afghanistan was his first tour.
The photo session was a chance for the soldiers who served with Harris to meet his daughter for the first time.
"Knowing that we could come home to a baby girl, that was awesome," Sgt. Nathan Arthur Bagley, who served with Chris, told ABC Durham, North Carolina, station WTVD-TV. "When everyone came home, that was the day she was born so that made it 10 times better."
“Those are the people she should know and be able to see how much they all loved her right from the beginning,” Britt Harris said. “They’ve been a part of her life before she was even born and I know they’re going to be around for the rest of her life.”