"Sgt. Joe Harris, believed to be the oldest surviving World War II paratrooper and a member of the U.S. Army’s first all-Black parachute infantry battalion, has died. He was 108. Harris died March 15 in a hospital in Los Angeles surrounded by family, grandson Ashton Pittman told The Associated Press. He will be honored with a full military funeral on April 5. “He was a very loving, loving, loving man,” said Pittman. “That was one of the things that he was very strict upon was loving one another.” Harris was among the last surviving members of the historic 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, nicknamed the Triple Nickles. The battalion helped protect the U.S. from deadly Japanese balloon bombs, according to Robert L. Bartlett, a retired Eastern Washington University professor who specializes in the 555th. In 1944 and 1945, the Japanese launched thousands of the balloons to be carried by the Pacific jet stream to the U.S. mainland to explode and start fires... ...Harris was born on June 19, 1916, in West Dale, Louisiana, according to Tracie Hunter, spokesperson for WWII Beyond The Call, a nonprofit organization that works to document veterans' accounts. After filling out his draft registration card, he began his military service in 1941 when he was 24. By the time he was honorably discharged in November 1945, he had completed 72 parachute jumps, according to Hunter." Joe Harris, believed to be the oldest surviving WWII paratrooper, has died
I remember reaading in Jim Gavin's book that the end of the war the 555 was assigned to the 82nd and Gen. Gavin allowed them to wear the decorations awarded to the 82nd when they marched in the ticket tape parade in NYC. While their work in fighting forest fires was important, too bad they weren't used in combat. I'm sure they would have fought well in the Bulge or in Varsity.
