Private First Class Cecil J. Sims enlisted in the Harrodsburg National Guard unit some time before the unit was activated in November 1940. He was taken prisoner on 9 April 1942 and survived the Death March. He was held at Camp O'Donnell and Cabanatuan. He was put aboard the Hell Ship Nissyo Maru and sent to Moji, Japan and eventually sent to Fukuoka Camp #4 where he worked as a stevedore loading ships and trains. He was liberated on 13 September 1945. He was discharged in July 1946. He returned to Harrodsburg and was an eighth grade teacher at McAffee Grade School there. He died on 21 August 1990.
