7
COMMANDER HARR’S ARRIVAL
CREATES UNANIMOUS FEELING
OF WELCOME
(Excerpt from an Aleutian Weekly)
"Through the Eighth Special area
strides a familiar figure— a man whom
the officers and men continue to look
up to, figuratively and literally.
"The anticipated visit of Command
er A. B. H arr became a reality on
Thursday of the past week. Before any
of the men had seen him, the grape
vine communications had it well estab
lished that the Commander was aboard;
and, although it was impossible for each
mate to extend a personal verbal greet
ing, the generating of a hospitable wel
come was evident in the remarks echo
ing in each and every hut; and, fur
thermore, if the Commander could
have ‘tuned in,’ he would have heard
heart-warming comments of respect and
admiration which are paid only to fine
leaders of men.
"Upon noting that the visor of his
‘undress’ cap was not carrying the
‘scrambled eggs’ to which he is entitled
as a full Commander, this typical re
mark was made and overheard: ‘He
knows he is all right* without that.’
Commander H arr has a distinctive and
outstanding personality that decorative
braid could do little to enhance.
“Since the Eighth Special was div
ided into two units, Commander Harr
has, for the most part, been stationed
at our Island X -l as Officer-in-Charge
of the Eighth Special Battalion, Section
Two. In recent months the second sec
tion has been split with Company ‘D’
remaining at Island X -l and Company
‘B’ moving to Island X-2. Now the
Commander’s position reverts to its or
iginal status as ■ Officer-in-Charge,
Eighth Special USN-CB (All Sections)
with each section, including the First,
operating with its OINC. We of the
first section consider ourselves fortun
ate in having him with us.”
Perry F. Conner, SK 3/c, Camp
Perry, Virginia, writes: "I gratefully
acknowledge receipt of 'The Oregon
State Employee.’ A real thrill to read
of the men I knew at home in the De
partment. I met Lt. (j.g.) Kenneth
Klein here in camp. He is now going
to school at Camp Endicott, Rhode Is
land.”
John E. Howry and Charlie Camp
bell are stationed in Australia with the
Seabees. Both say that Australia is a
fine country, but about 40 years be
hind the times. Should pick up fast af
ter the war though, as people are fast
finding the advantages of the country
down under. Both men are of the opin
ion that the war will be over and they
will return by July, 1945. Some things
are plentiful—liquid refreshments, for
example, according to John, but some
things are very scarce, cigars for in
stance.
Lt. (j.g.) Floyd Simon was a recent
visitor here after 17 months with the
Seabees in the Aleutians. Floyd left the
Highway Department where he was
foreman of a bridge maintenance crew,
to enter the service as chief warrant
officer. After several months on Ko
diak Island, he was assigned to con
struction of an advanced base on Tan-
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