Harley Harned was born in October 1924 on his grandfather’s farm in Troy Township, Michigan. His father was a streetcar conductor in Detroit [Annotator’s Note: Detroit, Michigan] until the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] came and he lost his job. At this time, his family moved around quite a bit as tenant farmers. His father occasionally drove trucks during the Depression to support the family. Harned, one of eight children, grew up around a large, extended, German-American family. On Sunday, the family would gather for dinner. The women chatted in the kitchen, the men drank beer and played cards, and the children played outside. One Sunday, an uncle of Harned’s teased him into thinking his oldest brother would be taken away. Harned hid behind a sofa for the rest of the day and developed a stutter that would follow him for many years. In high school, Harned bought a car from an older brother for 25 dollars and began to develop a social life, in spite of his stuttering. It was during his senior year at Utica High School that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Harned remembers gathering in the school gymnasium on Monday morning to hear President Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] declare war on Japan. He began to wonder how the war would affect his and his friends’ lives. As a 17 year old, he knew he would soon be eligible for the draft and would be going away to war. In June 1942, following his graduation from high school, Harned got a job as a bookkeeper at a local bank. He welcomed the job because his family was still struggling to come out of the Great Depression.

In October [Annotator’s Note: of 1942], Harley Harned turned 18. Not long after, his friends made the decision to sign up for the Army Air Corps without him. Harned was disappointed that he was left behind. His friend’s believed he was not bold enough to volunteer. On 1 December of that year, Harned went to the train station to see his friends off and to volunteer for service with the Army Air Corps. He volunteered so that he could avoid service with the infantry. A week later, Harned reported for induction and was soon on his way to basic training on the beaches of St. Petersburg, Florida. Harned was housed in a beachfront rental house formerly occupied by tourists. While in training, he scored highest on a clerical aptitude test and was sent to clerical school in Hattiesburg, Mississippi for two months. He enjoyed this training as he was no longer marching in the sand all day. Harned was then assigned as the company clerk at an air base near Birmingham, Alabama. The company captain told him he would be a great typist “as long as you do not stutter while typing.” During survival training in Tennessee, Harned was ordered to report for engineer training courses at Vanderbilt University [Annotator’s Note: in Nashville, Tennessee]. After nine months at Vanderbilt, the decision was made to limit the number of engineers needed by the Army Air Corps. As a result, Harned was reassigned out of the Air force into an Army infantry unit in southern Missouri. While the rest of the unit completed basic training, Harned was assigned duty in the office as the company clerk. Not long after, Harned boarded a troop train bound for New York City [Annotator’s Note: New York City, New York].

Harley Harned boarded a converted luxury liner for transport to Europe. [Annotator’s Note: Someone comes into the camera at 0:30:50.000.] Many of the troops got seasick and he decided to find a bunk high up to avoid being thrown up on. The ship took a zig-zag [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] pattern across the ocean. Harned landed in England in September 1944. While in England, Harned came across one of his friends from high school at a Red Cross [Annotator's Note: Red Cross, an international non-profit humanitarian organization] station. The friend had been assigned duty as an aircraft mechanic stationed in England. Another of his friends who had enlisted without him had been shot down over Europe and became a POW [Annotator's Note: prisoner of war] for the remainder of the war. He was later the best man in Harned’s wedding. Soon after, Harned landed in France and was assigned to the 288th Engineer Combat Battalion. The combat in France was light and his unit got to work reconstructing bridges and roads damaged in the German retreat so that supplies could continue to flow to the front lines. His engineer battalion carried rifles in the event that the infantry needed support, but he never saw the frontlines. The most combat he witnessed was strafing missions by German Luftwaffe forces. During the Battle of the Bulge [Annotator's Note: Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes CounterOffensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945], Harned served as the runner for his company, delivering messages between company and battalion headquarters. Harned remembers the immense sense of relief he felt when the news of the German surrender reached his unit. He calls it a “time of thanksgiving,” saying it is hard to explain the release of pressure caused by the stress of battle. He is thankful to not have suffered with post traumatic stress [Annotator's Note: post traumatic stress disorder; a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event either experienced or witnessed], but he acknowledges that so many others did.

Harley Harned’s duty was light after this [Annotator’s Note: the war’s end in May 1945] with many opportunities for furlough [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time]. Paris [Annotator’s Note: Paris, France] did not interest him, so went to Switzerland and traveled by train through many Swiss villages while relaxing and taking in the sights. When news finally came concerning VJ Day [Annotator's Note: Victory Over Japan Day, 15 August 1945], Harned was relieved that he would eventually be able to go home for good. He began thinking about his future, his anxiety disappeared, and a peaceful mood settled over him. In early 1946, Harned boarded a Navy cruiser bound for New York harbor. The sight of Lady Liberty was a joyful moment aboard ship. She was standing for everything he and the others had fought for. By March, Harned was discharged with the rank of corporal. He did not take advantage of the G.I. bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment], but went back to work at the bank before getting married in October.

Harley Harned’s most memorable experience of World War 2 was the trip over to Europe and the ship having to zig-zag [Annotator's Note: a naval anti-submarine maneuver] to avoid enemy submarines. He tried to touch base with any relatives that lived in Europe, but he never had a chance to meet any distant family. He served in World War 2 because he knew he was going to be drafted anyway, so he decided to enlist. The war opened his eyes to the diverse groups of people in the world and he became more tolerant of different cultures. Harned is thankful that he was part of something so big. Our country depended on his generation to win the war against Germany and Japan. God blessed America and helped the country out in key situations. Harned believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because it is an important part of our nation's history and the sacrifice by many families that lost their loved ones should be honored.