| This time last year I had never heard
of Ron Martini, his submarine webpage
or most of the other submarine pages I have since become so familiar with.
In the spring of 1997 I began an intensive search of the net for references
to WWII UDT units. I was looking for something on another cousin. Along
the way I somehow stumbled across cousin Bob Harrison and we happily reconnected
here in cyber-space. I also found this wonderful board, began posting and
resurrected many old memories of those Navy Days.
Now as the year comes to a close I have
recently received some of the information I sought last March. |
The
Harrison Not Here:
My
Cousin Bill
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He died a few years ago.
I knew he was a "frogman" in the Pacific
and that's about all I knew. He never talked about it much. He was the
oldest of all of us grandkids and was cousin Bob's older brother. He was
a tall man, lean and hard with a great sense of humor and that deep voice
I remember so well.
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I recently received the following mail
from Ned Tyler whom I had asked to help in the search of Bill's service:
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"I went to the archives today and found
some 1944 muster lists from UDT-14. A William Arthur Harrison was
on the team. He was an FC3, promoted to FC2(T) on Feb 1, 1945. He enlisted
on December 27, 1941."
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Addendum:
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Subsequent to obtaining this information
I also received confirmation of Bill's involvement in UDT-14 from Pam and
R.D. Russell from their extensive UDT/SEAL roster database. They mailed
me the complete hard copy of the WWII team roster for which I am most appreciative.
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You may visit their webpage, the US
Naval Special Warfare Archives This link is also on my SpecWar
Page.
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8 Feb, 2000 UPDATE
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More photos and information have been found
about Bill's service and I have added some here.
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Also found one page with UDT-14
MEMORIAL in Kihei, Hawaii.
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b.
1921 - d.1994
William
Arthur Harrison
Pacific
Theater 1944
UDT-14
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IMAGES
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So maybe there is a resolution to be made
here.
The familial relationships of the Harrison
clan is irrelevant to all of you except possibly as a droning annoyance.
But ...and this is the resolution we should all make: very simply stated;
let us all remind ourselves that this life is fleeting and that we should
resolve to talk to old friends and relatives more frequently. Seek them
out. Call them. Write them. And don't let those years slip by until it
is too late. I wish I had done more "staying in touch".
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I hope that 1998 is a great year for all
of you.
Straight Board
Sid Harrison
Of course being a man of
few words I can only say:
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HAPPY
NEW YEAR ALL !!
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