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Harry Johnson
Harry had been out of school for six or seven months when he volunteered to enlist. He was very anxious to join the military, but had to wait for his parents' approval. For basic training, he went to Miami Beach, Florida. Harry said that what he did most in basic training was marching. He noted, "The barracks was a ten-story hotel on Collins Blvd.; we could look across the street and see the ocean. They called us Aviation Cadet Candidates and we drilled twice a day on the fairways of a golf course. We never pulled KP (kitchen police), but we did have to guard the beaches at night armed with billy clubs. The German U-boats were operating off-shore. A couple of times we saw a ship that had been hit by shell fire and had run up on the beach to keep from sinking." After his training, he was sent to Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the 59th Flying Training Detachment. Harry served in the U.S. Army Air Force. On VE Day, May 8, 1945, Harry was in Italy. His group flew its last mission on April 26, 1945, and then they started getting the planes ready for their return to the United States. He was in Naples, Italy on May 11, 1945, waiting for a ship to take him back home. On VJ Day, Harry was in Natal, Brazil, where he enjoyed the USO shows, the good food, and the latest movies. He was flown from Natal to Miami, Florida in a "plush" C-46 Curtis Commando. At Miami he boarded a troop train that took him to a separation center at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. Harry was finally discharged on September 26, 1945. To be discharged, you had to earn ninety points. You could earn points by going overseas and many other ways. Harry received the American Theater Medal, the European, African and Middle East Theater Medals,a Good Conduct Medal and two overseas service bars. When he joined the service, he didn't realize what a great country he lived in and how many advantages he had. He learned this from serving in the war. Harry believes that he always has had a good work ethic and that helped him when he was in the service. During Harry's post-war employment years he worked as a building cost estimator and a chief estimator. At one time he wanted to be an architect, so he also did drafting. Harry has been active in the Littleton VFW for the past six years and has also been involved in church work. Harry cannot predict what will happen after the Attack on America on September 11. He views this as a totally different war. He suggests that if a young person is faced with the choice of enlisting or being drafted, he recommends enlisting because the latter involves more freedom of choice.
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| Last page update: March 2, 2008 12:14 PM |
Harry Johnson was born on October 15, 1922, in Chicago, Illinois. He was
nineteen years old when he entered the military service. Harry was not
engaged or married at the time of his service and he raised a family after
the war. He has two children and one grandchild. 
Harry
held the position of private first class and he was part of the 460th
Bomb Group of the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy. He served on the armament
ground crew of four B-24 bombers. His group received seven battle stars
and the Presidential Unit Citation. The armament crew checked the bombs,
arming wires, fuses, machine guns, turrets and ammunition on the planes
the morning of each mission, before the air crews took off. He would then
go to the "bomb dump" with the rest of his crew to get more
bombs and wait for the planes to come back. Each plane carried ten 500
lb. demolition bombs. Sometimes the load was changed to 1000 or 2000 lb.
bombs. The 460th Bomb Group flew about 207 missions. On one mission the
target was an oil refinery and a railroad marshalling yard. Harry said,
" There was anti-aircraft fire ("flak") over the target
as well as to and from the target. A large number of German fighters were
seen and several attacked the formation even though there was an escort
of P-38s and P-51s. Two aircraft failed to return. German fighters shot
one plane down; six crew members were killed; five parachuted out and
were taken prisoner. The other plane was shot down by "flak"
and the crew parachuted out; six crew members were picked up by Yugoslavian
partisans and returned to Italy; the other four crew members were captured."