Harris, Henry Miletus
Title
Harris, Henry Miletus
Last Name
Harris
First and Middle Name
Henry Miletus
Nicknames or Other Names
N/a
Hometown
Scottsville, VA
Birth Date
3/12/1896
Birthplace
Albemarle, VA
Death Date
9/30/1984
Cause of Death
Age
Place of Death
Salem, VA
Parents
Charles B. Harris and Helen Crofton
Spouse(s)
Claudine A. Harris
VPI Graduating Class
1917
Graduated
No
Service Branch
Marine Corps
Unit
2nd Division, 73rd company, 6th Marines
Rank
Private
Retired Rank
Sergeant
Military Events
Arriving in France in October 1917, Harris fought with the Marine Corps during the battle of Chateau-Thierry, which was one of the first engagements in which American soldiers fought under Pershing.
- The Virginia Tech reported that Harris was a private in the 73rd Company, 6th Regiment of the US Marine Corps and was fighting in France as of 7 February 1918. He was trained at Paris Island, South Carolina and then at Quanico. They also noted that he was formerly working with the People's Service Company of Muskegee, Oklahoma.
- The Virginia Tech recieved a letter from Harris who was now in France and published it on February 28, 1918. In the letter Harris wrote that his unit has just been issued new gas masks, Hotchkiss machine guns, caps, and "knickerbockers" which he wore like bloomers. He told his friends back at VPI that "We are going to do our 'darndest' to let the Huns know that the 73rd company is right on the job and ready to go 'up and over."
Battles or Engagements
Chateau-Thierry and Soissons
Postwar Life
Worked as an engineer in Roanoke, VA and Bluefield, WV
Occupation
Engineer
1927 "Virginia Polytehnic Institute in the World War" booklet
Yes
Additional Notes
Of the Chateau-Thierry offensive, he said, "I hope to live to tell you about the sights I saw the day before and the first day of the big Allied offensive, it was the most wonderful thing I have seen in all my life."
Contributing Researchers
Connor Skelly
Bibliography
Letter from Henry M. Harris, 24 October 1918, The Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Virginia War History questionnaire
Death certificate and 1930 census on ancestry.com
Virginia Tech Special Collections also holds Henry Harris' scrapbook he kept while at VPI. The listing can be found here.
Files
Collection
Citation
“Harris, Henry Miletus,” VPI in World War I, accessed May 12, 2024, http://vpiworldwarone.lib.vt.edu/items/show/119.
Comments (if you have information about a veteran or would like to talk about a veteran, also email the project director Daniel Newcomb at danieln1@vt.edu with your information or question)