Joe Harris Dead: the oldest wwii paratroper paved the way for black soldiers

Sgt. Joe Harris lived a good life.

He sailed on Earth on many missions as a member of the first battalion to fully black paratroper in the American army during the Second World War, the 555th, rightly nicknamed the “Triple Nickles”.

During his funeral on Saturday, friends, families and members in the military uniform dancing and sang to honor Harris, considered the oldest veteran paratrooper when he died on March 15.

He was 108 years old.

“He was a kind, attentive and compassionate man,” his daughter told the Pittman Pittman in Times. “He did not leave the fact that he was fighting for freedom during separate times preventing him from living his life.”

Harris, born in Westdale, in Louisiana, on June 19, 1916, died in a hospital in Los Angeles surrounded by family. He stayed at rest on Saturday at the Metropolitan CME church in Lewis.

Many cried, but they also laughed, because the service looked like a return – a last jump for Harris in the unknown.

His grandson, Ashton Pittman, thanked his grandfather for everything he sacrificed.

“He was our rock, the foundation among which the generations were built,” he said.

Harris received complete military honors and was buried in the Inglewood Park cemetery.

His funeral procession included an escort of Willys Jeep from the Second World War and a military plane flew over the Harris house in Compton, where he lived more than 60 years.

The mayor of Compton, Emma Sharif, announced that the city explored plans to rename a street after Harris.

Members of the National Forest Service and veterans from different branches of the army dressed in uniforms of the era of the First World War.

They understood the SGT of the American army to retirement. Donald Garrison, who met Harris for the first time several years ago and participated in commemorative events and parachute jumps in honor of Triple Nickles.

“Holy smokes, the man, he paved the way for people like me,” said Garrison, while his voice broke. “I become a little emotional because I feel it in my heart. He sacrificed so much, because he was not supposed to be something other than a steward, a cook or a valet. He was a paratroper – a hero. “

The Tanya Pittman said that her father was qualified as a paratrooper, but wanted to become a pilot while he was in the army.

“They wouldn’t even let him try,” she said. “But he still continued to serve his country.”

As a member of the “Triple Nickles”, Harris was part of a unit ready for the fight, but the paratroopers were not sent abroad. Instead, they trained like some of the first American “smokejumpers”.

They were responsible for parachuting in the northwest forests of the Pacific to fight against forest fires ignited by Japanese ball bombs launched in North America on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Operation Firefly, a very secret mission, saw the smokejumpers turning off forest fires and disarming all the explosives slaughtered.

They were stationed in Pendleton, Oregon, and Chico, California, where they responded to 36 fires and made 1,200 jumps, according to US Forest Service.

One of the main reasons why the operation was kept secret was to limit the news to reach Japan about ball bombs that arrived in North America, said chief historian Matt Seelinger of the historic army foundation.

Although six people were killed near Bly, Oregon, when they discovered a shot shot in May 1945, the overall damage caused by weapons was limited.

“The balloons did not work like the Japanese intention,” said Seelinger.

Harris made 72 successful jumps when he was with the army, according to the Beyond the Call organization, which documents the stories of veterans.

Smokejumpers were equipped with forest fire -fighting equipment, including a football style leather helmet with a front grill and other tools.

After his honorable release, Harris bought a house in Compton and had three children with her high school sweetheart, Louise Singleton Harris. He then worked for the American border patrol for almost 40 years.

The former mayor of Compton, Omar Bradley, who grew up next to the Harris family, danced in the Harris show next to a large radio console at 3 or 4 years old.

“His favorite thing was to invite me and get me dancing in front of his friends,” said Bradley, who learned later that the other men were veteran paratroopers with the 555th. “But if he really wanted me to light it, he would throw $ 1, and I would have the whole house – his wife, his children, everyone – laughing, because I would start to make the divisions.”

Harris was a paternal figure and a constant element of the Compton community.

“He was faithful, committed and unshakable,” said Bradley. “A real American.”

The veteran of the American Marine Corps and former Forest Fireman Neil Gallagher felt honored to visit Harris at his home in January.

He and two other veterans presented to Harris a Pulaski, a forest fire tool used to build films and a paratrooper patch.

“They fought fascism and then fought racism,” said Gallagher, who is the founder of non -profit oral history by preserving their stories.

“Our country has a duty to ensure that heroes like Mr. Harris are never forgotten, and it starts by providing units such as the 555th the recognition they deserve,” he said.

Harris was preceded in death by his wife in 1981 and a grandson.

Harris is survived by two daughters, one son, four grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and 20 great-great-grandchildren.