Harry served as a Staff Sergeant, 305th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division, U.S. Army during World War II.
He resided in Prince George's County, Maryland prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on March 31, 1942 at Camp Lee, Virginia. He was noted as being employed as a Actor and also as Single, without dependents.
Harry was "Killed In Action" during the war and was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 33157935
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Battle Information:
The 305th Infantry Regiment landed at Ormoc Bay on Leyte Island in the Philippines on December 7th 1944. On the 11th, they moved north from Ormoc to consolidate the lines and prepare for battle. The plan was to break the island's main line of defense along Highway 2.
By the next day a strong, desperately defended Japanese position had been developed at Cogan, on the northern edge of Ormoc. Cogon was located on a promontory covered with dense jungle growth. In all directions the lie of the land offered the defenders perfect fields of fire for automatic weapons and excellent opportunity for concealment and observation. Overlooking all was a centrally located, three-story, reinforced concrete blockhouse, the citadel of its defense. For a hundred yards on all sides of the blockhouse, the enemy had dug many deep foxholes only a few yards apart.
The Battle of the Blockhouse
Lieutenant General Andrew Davis Bruce of the 77th Infantry Division attached Colonel Paul Freeman, an observer from the War Department General Staff, to the 305th Infantry Regiment. Colonel Freeman was made commander of a special attack force, consisting of Companies E and L, which was to storm the blockhouse. During the night of 13th -14th December, the artillery of the 77th Division delivered harassing and interdiction fires to the front, the principal target being the concrete blockhouse that had withstood the onslaught of the previous two days.
At 0930 on 14th December, Colonel Freeman prepared his special assault force to renew the attack. The attack was preceded by an intense artillery and mortar barrage which seemed to smother the position. However, as the assault force approached, the enemy resisted fiercely from well-hidden covered entrenchments. The advance was painfully slow, but the companies moved doggedly forward. By the use of fire power, flamethrowers, armored bulldozers, grenades, bayonets, and knives, they completed the destruction, and after a desperate melee which lasted for six hours, captured the blockhouse. In this action, 2,153 of the enemy were killed and 5 prisoners were taken. The 305th stood a loss of 82 dead and 296 wounded. Staff Sergeant Bell of Company L died in this assault of the blockhouse.
Sources:
SECOND TO NONE! The Story of the 305th Infantry In World War II
1949, Washington, DC, Infantry Journal Press
Leyte: The Return to the Philippines
M. Hamlin Cannon, Washington, DC 1953
He resided in Prince George's County, Maryland prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on March 31, 1942 at Camp Lee, Virginia. He was noted as being employed as a Actor and also as Single, without dependents.
Harry was "Killed In Action" during the war and was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 33157935
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Battle Information:
The 305th Infantry Regiment landed at Ormoc Bay on Leyte Island in the Philippines on December 7th 1944. On the 11th, they moved north from Ormoc to consolidate the lines and prepare for battle. The plan was to break the island's main line of defense along Highway 2.
By the next day a strong, desperately defended Japanese position had been developed at Cogan, on the northern edge of Ormoc. Cogon was located on a promontory covered with dense jungle growth. In all directions the lie of the land offered the defenders perfect fields of fire for automatic weapons and excellent opportunity for concealment and observation. Overlooking all was a centrally located, three-story, reinforced concrete blockhouse, the citadel of its defense. For a hundred yards on all sides of the blockhouse, the enemy had dug many deep foxholes only a few yards apart.
The Battle of the Blockhouse
Lieutenant General Andrew Davis Bruce of the 77th Infantry Division attached Colonel Paul Freeman, an observer from the War Department General Staff, to the 305th Infantry Regiment. Colonel Freeman was made commander of a special attack force, consisting of Companies E and L, which was to storm the blockhouse. During the night of 13th -14th December, the artillery of the 77th Division delivered harassing and interdiction fires to the front, the principal target being the concrete blockhouse that had withstood the onslaught of the previous two days.
At 0930 on 14th December, Colonel Freeman prepared his special assault force to renew the attack. The attack was preceded by an intense artillery and mortar barrage which seemed to smother the position. However, as the assault force approached, the enemy resisted fiercely from well-hidden covered entrenchments. The advance was painfully slow, but the companies moved doggedly forward. By the use of fire power, flamethrowers, armored bulldozers, grenades, bayonets, and knives, they completed the destruction, and after a desperate melee which lasted for six hours, captured the blockhouse. In this action, 2,153 of the enemy were killed and 5 prisoners were taken. The 305th stood a loss of 82 dead and 296 wounded. Staff Sergeant Bell of Company L died in this assault of the blockhouse.
Sources:
SECOND TO NONE! The Story of the 305th Infantry In World War II
1949, Washington, DC, Infantry Journal Press
Leyte: The Return to the Philippines
M. Hamlin Cannon, Washington, DC 1953
Harry served as a Staff Sergeant, 305th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division, U.S. Army during World War II.
He resided in Prince George's County, Maryland prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on March 31, 1942 at Camp Lee, Virginia. He was noted as being employed as a Actor and also as Single, without dependents.
Harry was "Killed In Action" during the war and was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 33157935
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Battle Information:
The 305th Infantry Regiment landed at Ormoc Bay on Leyte Island in the Philippines on December 7th 1944. On the 11th, they moved north from Ormoc to consolidate the lines and prepare for battle. The plan was to break the island's main line of defense along Highway 2.
By the next day a strong, desperately defended Japanese position had been developed at Cogan, on the northern edge of Ormoc. Cogon was located on a promontory covered with dense jungle growth. In all directions the lie of the land offered the defenders perfect fields of fire for automatic weapons and excellent opportunity for concealment and observation. Overlooking all was a centrally located, three-story, reinforced concrete blockhouse, the citadel of its defense. For a hundred yards on all sides of the blockhouse, the enemy had dug many deep foxholes only a few yards apart.
The Battle of the Blockhouse
Lieutenant General Andrew Davis Bruce of the 77th Infantry Division attached Colonel Paul Freeman, an observer from the War Department General Staff, to the 305th Infantry Regiment. Colonel Freeman was made commander of a special attack force, consisting of Companies E and L, which was to storm the blockhouse. During the night of 13th -14th December, the artillery of the 77th Division delivered harassing and interdiction fires to the front, the principal target being the concrete blockhouse that had withstood the onslaught of the previous two days.
At 0930 on 14th December, Colonel Freeman prepared his special assault force to renew the attack. The attack was preceded by an intense artillery and mortar barrage which seemed to smother the position. However, as the assault force approached, the enemy resisted fiercely from well-hidden covered entrenchments. The advance was painfully slow, but the companies moved doggedly forward. By the use of fire power, flamethrowers, armored bulldozers, grenades, bayonets, and knives, they completed the destruction, and after a desperate melee which lasted for six hours, captured the blockhouse. In this action, 2,153 of the enemy were killed and 5 prisoners were taken. The 305th stood a loss of 82 dead and 296 wounded. Staff Sergeant Bell of Company L died in this assault of the blockhouse.
Sources:
SECOND TO NONE! The Story of the 305th Infantry In World War II
1949, Washington, DC, Infantry Journal Press
Leyte: The Return to the Philippines
M. Hamlin Cannon, Washington, DC 1953
He resided in Prince George's County, Maryland prior to the war.
He enlisted in the Army on March 31, 1942 at Camp Lee, Virginia. He was noted as being employed as a Actor and also as Single, without dependents.
Harry was "Killed In Action" during the war and was awarded the Purple Heart.
Service # 33157935
( Bio by: Russ Pickett )
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Battle Information:
The 305th Infantry Regiment landed at Ormoc Bay on Leyte Island in the Philippines on December 7th 1944. On the 11th, they moved north from Ormoc to consolidate the lines and prepare for battle. The plan was to break the island's main line of defense along Highway 2.
By the next day a strong, desperately defended Japanese position had been developed at Cogan, on the northern edge of Ormoc. Cogon was located on a promontory covered with dense jungle growth. In all directions the lie of the land offered the defenders perfect fields of fire for automatic weapons and excellent opportunity for concealment and observation. Overlooking all was a centrally located, three-story, reinforced concrete blockhouse, the citadel of its defense. For a hundred yards on all sides of the blockhouse, the enemy had dug many deep foxholes only a few yards apart.
The Battle of the Blockhouse
Lieutenant General Andrew Davis Bruce of the 77th Infantry Division attached Colonel Paul Freeman, an observer from the War Department General Staff, to the 305th Infantry Regiment. Colonel Freeman was made commander of a special attack force, consisting of Companies E and L, which was to storm the blockhouse. During the night of 13th -14th December, the artillery of the 77th Division delivered harassing and interdiction fires to the front, the principal target being the concrete blockhouse that had withstood the onslaught of the previous two days.
At 0930 on 14th December, Colonel Freeman prepared his special assault force to renew the attack. The attack was preceded by an intense artillery and mortar barrage which seemed to smother the position. However, as the assault force approached, the enemy resisted fiercely from well-hidden covered entrenchments. The advance was painfully slow, but the companies moved doggedly forward. By the use of fire power, flamethrowers, armored bulldozers, grenades, bayonets, and knives, they completed the destruction, and after a desperate melee which lasted for six hours, captured the blockhouse. In this action, 2,153 of the enemy were killed and 5 prisoners were taken. The 305th stood a loss of 82 dead and 296 wounded. Staff Sergeant Bell of Company L died in this assault of the blockhouse.
Sources:
SECOND TO NONE! The Story of the 305th Infantry In World War II
1949, Washington, DC, Infantry Journal Press
Leyte: The Return to the Philippines
M. Hamlin Cannon, Washington, DC 1953
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