Brandon Twp.-From a glimpse of American General George Patton to the hanging of fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to a USO performance by the singing Andrews Sisters? township resident and WWII veteran Raymond Harris? tour of duty in North Africa and Italy was a snapshot of history.
On Nov. 11, Veterans Day 2007, Harris, now 80, reflected on his military experiences more than 60 years ago following a visit to the National WWII Memorial in Washington D.C., which opened in 2004.
‘The memorial is not gaudy,? said Harris. ‘There’s not a lot of glitz there’that’s how it should be, informative and lots of thought behind the memorial.?
Harris was eager to explore the memorial’a tribute to his experiences and the more than 50,000,000 Americans that served.
Lansing natives Raymond and twin brother Lroy graduated from a Lansing high school in June 1943, after which both reported to Fort Sheridan, Ill. for assignment.
‘They stamped Lroy’s papers Navy and my papers Army,? said Harris. ‘I headed to Fort McClellan, Ala for 16 weeks of training, then in September went on a troop ship with 7,000 other soldiers from Newport News, Va. We sailed across the Atlantic and arrived in Morocco about a week later, at about 4 a.m.?
Once in north Africa, Harris volunteered to drive a Sherman tank in combat, facing off against the larger more powerful German Panzer tanks.
‘When you’re a teen and some guy with all this ‘brass? on…says, ‘Go get ’em, boys,? you’ll do just about anything. We won the war anyway,? laughed Harris. ‘Going up against the German 88 mm gun with a 37 mm gun is like a peashooter versus a shot gun.?
Despite the tank mismatch during the next few months, Harris participated in numerous tank battles across north Africa and Italy.
‘I saw Patton from a distance in Greece near the Parthenon’with pearl-handled revolvers and wearing a silver helmet’riding in a Jeep,? said Harris. ‘I guess he was just passing through.?
Harris also participated in several Allied invasions at Sicily, Salerno and Anizo near the Mediterranean Sea.
‘The invasion at Anizo was the worst,? said Harris. ‘There’s nothing to conceal the landing, it’s very wide open there.?
In April 1945, just before the Allied armies reached Milan, Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci were caught by Italian partisans as he tried to take refuge in Switzerland. They were executed in public.
‘We could see Mussolini, along with his girlfriend, just hanging there in town. You get hardened to killing real fast’death was cheap.?
Harris was in Italy when the war ended in the spring of 1945.
‘We were getting ready for a USO Show in Naples with the Andrew Sisters when they announced that the war had ended. They should have waited for the show to be over before they told us that. Things kind of got out of hand at the show,? laughed Harris.
Harris returned home to Lansing and worked for Consumers Power Company, where he retired in 1985.
The lack of ear protection during his duty as a tank driver caused significant hearing loss for Harris, who now wears two hearing aids.
He married Dolores in 1946. The couple will soon celebrate their 61st anniversary. The have one daughter, Raeanne (Frazer), who lives in Colorado.