MARYANN SMITH HARRIS

World War II Interview


By: Kimsey M. "Mac" Fowler

Typed By: Jimmie B. Fowler

25 October 2000



Maryan Smith Harris

905 Gracewood St.

Dublin, GA 31021



I really don't remember where I was when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, I believe I was at home. It was a Sunday, I was teaching in Thomasville, GA from 1940-42. We were all shocked when we heard about it.



To be perfectly frank, I am Patriotic and I wanted to help my country if I could be of any service to it. But really, I was interested in the adventure of it.



I was in Greenwood, South Carolina at the time I made my decision to join the WAVES. I had heard about the service organizations for women and I thought I would like to join the WAVES. I went to Columbia, South Carolina to take my examination. I remember that morning; I was a little bit under weight. So I ate lots of bananas and drank lots of water to try to raise my weight a little bit and I still didn't reach the normal weight that they required. But they accepted me anyway. They saw that I was healthy and they passed me.



It was spring 1943 that I had my physical and written examinations. I was not inducted until June 5, 1943. At that time I was sent to Smith College in North Hampton, Massachusetts for four weeks of Basic Training. That was a wonderful experience. I had never been in the Northeast. North Hampton was a beautiful old town. We marched everywhere we went. They had a wonderful restaurant that was well known for delicious food. That's where we had our meals. We had to march from the college to the restaurant every time we ate. The food was wonderful. I really enjoyed that.



Basic training was strenuous but it was fun, too. We had to learn to keep our rooms in "apple pie" order. I remember mitering the beds. I would bruise my knuckles trying to get the cover tight enough to bounce a dime. They would come around and inspect the room with white gloves. If they found anything wrong, you got a demerit. One time we had an inspection and they said, "there is an article adrift". We looked everywhere and finally found one little bobby pin in one corner of the room. I guess that was the "article adrift".



We studied hard, Military History and anything pertaining to the Navy and Surface Craft. I don't remember the subject names. I was not trained in communication, which is actually the branch that I went into when I was sent to Miami. That was my first tour of duty. I was in the communications there at the 7th Naval District. We coded and decoded messages, which was very interesting.



We had different shifts. The nightwatch was the one I hated the most. That was from midnight until 8 a.m. I never did get use to that. I drank gallons of coffee trying to stay awake during that night watch. Miami was a wonderful tour of duty; I enjoyed it very much.



We sent messages to and from the surface ships. The PT boats and DE (destroyers) came into Miami to get their supplies. I remember on one occasion, the movie, "They were Expendable". It was about the PT boats and their mission during the war. Robert Taylor and John Wayne were in the movie. They took a group of WAVES out to the island where they were filming the movie. That was a lot of fun. I was in that group. I got to see John Wayne and Robert Taylor do their thing. I never did meet them personally; they didn't want to get that close to the public. We did enjoy seeing that. On one occasion they took us aboard a destroyer and showed us all around. That was interesting.



I was in Miami for two years. I had great living quarters in Miami. Four WAVES shared an apartment on the Belle Isle Causeway.



I remember it was an ideal setting. We looked out the window and saw this beautiful blue water and all the lovely palm trees. I would pinch myself and wonder, "Is this really me?"





Later four of us shared a house in Coral Gables. I still worked at the 7th Naval District in Miami but commuted. At one point my sister who graduated from Wesleyan had a job as Stewardess with Pan American and she was stationed in Miami and shared the house with us.



I remember a hurricane warning came. The winds were blowing, they told everybody to fill up their bathtubs and batten down the hatches and get ready for the hurricane. We sent Dottie to get some food we could eat if the electricity was off. She came back with a huge can of Spam. The hurricane never developed but we ate Spam for a long time!



I asked for a transfer to California. Women were not allowed to go overseas and I wanted to see the United States. I was sent to Washington DC instead for the last ten months of my service. I never made it to California.



When we were in Washington, it was not nearly as exciting as Miami to me. It was a beautiful city. Eight of us shared a house in Washington in Chevy Chase. When I first arrived in Washington, however, another WAVE and I shared a room in the Meridian Hill Hotel, I think that was the name of it. It was a women's hotel. We couldn't take guest up to our room. We had to see them in the parlors.



My duties in Washington DC were the same as Miami.



I met my husband, John, when I was teaching in Thomasville. He was stationed at Spence Field in Moultrie, GA. He was able to get rides frequently to come visit me in Miami. He went overseas and was in the Battle of The Ruhr in Germany. John was sent to serve with the 121st Infantry in Germany.

We thought that it was an unusual coincidence since the 121st Infantry was made up primarily of soldiers from Laurens County, especially L Company, which was John's company. John was discharged in 1945 and returned home to New Jersey.



He came down to see me in Washington DC. I had never seen him in civilian clothes because when I met him he was in service. He was coming to Washington and I was going to meet him at the train station. I saw this nice looking man get off. Oh, he looked so handsome! I thought he was more handsome in his civilian clothes than his uniform.



If I had not met John and wanted to get married, I would have stayed in service. But I wanted to get married. I was discharged in May 1946 from Washington DC.



When I was in Washington DC, they declared VJ Day and everybody poured out of the offices after work and everybody went downtown singing, waving flags, and hugging each other whether you knew them or not. We were all so happy that the war was over. It was a wonderful occasion!



I was born and reared in Dublin.



My parents were Charles Manly Smith and Annie Simons Smith. My father was Masonic Service Representative at the V. A. Hospital for a long time. They lived on Calhoun Street here in Dublin.



My grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. James S. Simons moved here from Charleston, South Carolina. Simons is a French Huguenot name. (Although Simons is spelled with one "m" it is pronounced as if it had two m's.) Hardy Smith is my Revolutionary ancestor. He is a well-known name in Laurens County.



My husband, John Joseph Harris, Jr. is from Newark, New Jersey and lived in Montclair for a number of years. His father was John Joseph Harris, Sr. His mother was Vincetta Jacobus. They were Dutch.



John and I have one son, John Kenneth Harris, married and lives in Haddonfield, New Jersey. His wife is Susan Krieger Harris. They have two lovely daughters, Keighley (15) and Tracey (13).







Note: Mrs. Harris put on her WAVE uniform. (It still fit!)



I am an active member of Christ Episcopal Church and a volunteer at the Historical Society, a member of the DAR.



My husband has been at the V.A. Hospital for two years suffering from diabetes and arthritis. I took care of him at home as long as I could.



I didn't teach regularly after getting out of the service. I did some substitute teaching.



I was a Lt. "jg" when I got out of service. I received some medals and ribbons but nothing exceptional.