Here is a picture of my Grandpa, Paul Harty Sr., that I have never seen before. It is a great picture of him. He would be 21 years old at the time this was taken. He served over in Europe, but I am not aware of what his unit was, or the engagements or any of those details. I do know he was injured while serving. I believe the injury lead to an early release. Not sure on the details. I hope my Dad can provide them soon.
At any rate, this is a great way to honor him (and of course, the hundreds of thousands of men & women who have served God's Greatest Nation on the Earth since Americans fought for and won our Independence from Great Britain) on this Memorial Day. After all, the holiday is set as a special time to honor those who died in action, or even those who served but have now passed on by natural causes, and their sacrifices for us.
Grandpa Harty was a regular, everyday American who stepped up to rid the world of wrong, best he could, when his Country needed him the most. And that regular, everyday quality and the power derived thereof, is what makes America - the United States of America - the greatest Nation on God's Green Footstool. The average person can step forward and be free to be a leader. There is no compulsion to do so. It all comes from within. And when men step forward to do so, and have the support and hopes of their wives, families and neighbors...watch out! No unhallowed power formed by wicked men can stop them.
And that is how the right prevailed in World War II...the regular, everyday American ...answering the call of the oppressed across the world, to fight and defeat evil leaders and their causes before the cancer of their wickedness came to our sacred shores.
Just regular, everyday Americans...like my Grandpa Harty!
Thank you Grandpa, for your service to our land!
9 comments:
Brent, if you'll post this on the blog, Lavern's children can print her off a copy to take to a special Memorial Day service at her church this Sunday. Thanks!
Dad - Paul, Jr. - Butch - whoever!
Hi Brent,
Dad was released from the military on 9 Mar 1922 from Percy Jones Hospital Center, Fort Custer, Michigan. He had entered the service on 19 Nov 1942. He was a PFC in Company A 327th Engineer Combat Battalion. He was 5' 11" & weighed 200 Pounds. He joined the Army at Jefferson Barracks, Mo. He was in the Rhineland Campaign and earned the Good Conduct Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern theater Ribbon with one Bronze Campaign Star. He was wounded in action and received the White Heart. He left the USA on 12 Sep 1944 for the European Theater of Operation and arrived there on 24 Sep 1944. He left Europe on 14 Apr 1945 and arrived in USA on 28 Apr 1945. Dad never talked about the war much and was sort of that way about all of his accomplishments. As you said in your comments, he was an example of the men and women that fought in that war. They did what they had to do, endured and came home to their families, picked up their lives and did their best to forget the horror that they had seen, heard and participated in during the war. They may not have been perfect, but we considered them to be that way. More importantly they loved their country and their families and volunteered to defend both with their lives if necessary. Were they hero's? They didn't think so, but we did!
Wow...that means Grandpa Harty went into the service just over a month after he was married! I know that both of them sacrificed so he could answer the call...and she would have to go through her first pregnancy with him not there to support her. Good thing Grandpa and Grandma Lewis were nearby.
Thanks for providing the details...I'll record those somewhere else soon.
PS...you put his release date down as his birthdate. Just repost sometime to fix that.
Great info!
5' 11'' - 200 lbs...that is pretty much what I weighed when I was 18. Although I got a bunch of muscle (hmpf and some fat!) at the end of my senior year and went up to 245. Now I weigh around 230.
I always knew Grandpa to be a lot thinner and frail than that. Of course, he was much older. Some of these older pictures of his as a young man show him to be more around my size and likely strength at that age.
It is also neat to know that he also played football in high school like I did. He never mentioned that to me. I'd like to have some info on that sometime too.
Hi Brent,
I don't know how I made such a big goof, I reread that comment several times before I sent it to you. Guess it was too late at night. The correct release date from the Army should have been 12 Oct 1945. Sorry bout that!
You might also want to know that Dad and several other soldiers were clearing a battle field when he was injured. He had picked up a Ruger, and found it to be free of any bullets. He decided to keep it, and was walking off the battle site with the pistol in his hand when he must have pulled the trigger several times, like guys often do, and a shell that had been stuck in the barrel ignited and nailed him in the fat part of his foot. Dad stated that he had checked that pistol out carefully and did not notice the lodged shell in the barrel at any of those inspections and neither did his comrades. I always thought that maybe a sniper had shot him in the foot, but he was shot at any rate. The injury turned out to be the million dollar injury, as dad was shipped home. Naturally, he was glad to be home, but I think he felt bad about the way it happened. As you noted, he entered the service after being married for such a short time. Grandpa Harty had arranged to have dad exempted because he was the last son on the farm and was needed on the farm, especially since grandpa was getting older. So dad did not have to go into the service at all, but being young and idealistic, he volunteered to serve his country. I don't know how grandpa felt about that, but I think he was especially proud of dad. I believe I remember Dad saying that he had volunteered before he and mom were married, so that explains the entry into the service after he and mom were married. I still think that he was incredibly brave, both before his injury and after it happened. He paid for that injury for years and had to soak it often. As you know he never complained. I urged him time and again to go to the doctor when he slipped on ice on the parking lot at Superior Electric while running to catch a ride home after work. This happened when he was well into his late fifties! He walked with a limp and had horrible bruises and swelling, but he wouldn't go to a doctor. The men that served in the army were all that way. Incredibly dedicated to America and "tough as nails". I still marvel at their strong constitutions. Dad
Hi Brent,
I neglected to say that dad broke his hip when he fell at Superior Electric. He did not acknowledge this until he was examined while in the VA Hospital for another ailment later on. He walked on that hip, and didn't miss a day of work, until it healed up. I always told him that he was a "tough old bird" and he would laugh and change the subject. He was tough! I respected him a great deal as did all that knew him. Like the Harty's before him, he was respected and loved by those that knew him. Dad gained quite a bit of weight when he came home from the service and in his middle years, he was probably up around 230-40, but much of it was muscle.
He was strong and very athletic. He could play any sport with or without practice!
Thank you...I appreciate the compliment!
My father told me this in August of 1998 before his death in November, “Ramona, I didn’t want to go to Europe and leave your mother and brother.” His emotions were so strong I could sense the heartache that he had experienced back during the war when he had to leave them, wondering if he would return home a live or not. Dad told me he was afraid that he would never see them again. He went on to tell me how wonderful the French people were towards them, the Americans. He stated that one day my company was cold and hungry and that a farmer from a near by farm came out with his family and gave us all they had and asked us to come to their home and warm up. We drunk and ate and had a good time even though we couldn't speak French. My father said, after seeing the people and how they were suffering so they gave all they had to us. He realized that God had a purpose for them and he wanted to give the French the same freedom that he knew. Up to that time I’d always felt that Dad wanted us to be 100% government supporters, which I’m not completely (we have elected some dishonest people), but I learned that day that my father was a human being who was moved by great emotions and passion. Our family indeed had a great hand in the beginning formation of the American way of life as we know it to day and enjoy it.
Dad also told me about one night when a lot of shell’s or bombs where going off around him. His buddy said, “Well as long as we can hear them coming in where okay!” Dad told me that his friend had black hair. Well when the morning came it was snow white in color because of the fear he experienced when a bullet hit his helmet the night before.
Dad carried in his left shirt pocket a Bible. Not only a Bible but a Bible that had a metal cover he said his uncle had it in his left shirt pocket too when he serviced in WWI. The Bible saved his uncles life.
A boot camp story—Paul Harty Sr.
Dad was expecting a call from mom’s family because she was going to have Paul Hampton Harty Jr. any day. Well his company commander was a red-headed Irishman dad said. Well dad said also “He made the mistake of not telling me about your mother’s delivery of your brother.” The Chaplin told me and the Chaplin and I went to his tent. It had been several days after the delivery of Paul. Well we know how strong our father’s will is right. Dad beat the living day light out of him for not telling him. The officer apologized to dad and that was that. Thank God the Chaplin was with Dad.
Dad said, "I saw things, that I pray to God you will never have to see Ramona." That’s all Dad told me about WWII.
Aunt Ramona
Thanks for the great content! I'll send you an email with all this in a doc. that you may wish to keep. Great stuff!
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