17265 HARRY WINFREE WARE, JR
DIED OF WOUNDS. NOVEMBER 5, 1950 IN KOREA, AGED 25 YEARS.

HARRY WINFREE WARE, JR, was born April 17, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. However, he spent part of his youth in Kentucky and visited his grandparents every summer. He was the son of Mrs. Marie J. Ware and the late Capt. Harry W. Ware, in whose honor the American Legion "Harry Ware Post" in Hopkinaville, Kentucky, is named.

His parents, grandparents and great grandparents stemmed from the South, and Harry was very proud to be a member of "The Children of the Confederacy", an auxiliary of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. He loved the South and would sit by the hour listening to stories of the Civil War as told by his great great grandmother. There he enjoyed being outdoors swimming, and hunting with his gun and bird dogs.

While an infant he was nicknamed "Happy" because of his smiling, happy nature, and the name of "Happy" stuck with him through life, as his radiant smile and gracious manner became his trademark.

He set his goal early in life-that of becoming a soldier. During childhood when he was not drawing, he centered his interest on planning and executing battle campaigns with his armies of toy soldiers covering the living room floor, and with dreams of some day becoming a West Pointer. He was an eager member of the Boy Scouts in Los Angeles.

Upon entering University High School in Westwood. Los Angeles, he immediately joined the R.O.T- C., and, while Captain of Company A, he achieved the highest honor ever awarded to a University Cadet when he was chosen Cadet Colonel and Regimental Commander of the eleven R.O.T.C. high school units in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Other R.O.T.C. honors awarded him were medals for "Best Soldier". "Best Corporal". and "Outstanding Non-commissioned Officer". He was a member of the Fancy Drill Team and belonged to the Sabre and Chevron Club. During his senior year he was an instructor in Military Science. His honor clubs in high school included Ephebian, Knights, Squires and Meladonian.

After graduation he enlisted in the Regular Army on September 3, 1943, and attended U.S.M.A. prep school at Lafayette College; and was later attached to the 103rd Infantry Division at Camp Howze, Texas. Hap earned the Expert Infantry Badge at Camp Howze and it was there he developed his love for this branch of the Service,. "He was and would always be a devoted `Dogface'."

His appointment to the Academe reached him as he was prepaying to board ship in 1945 with his outfit. heading for Europe during World War Il.
Plebe year at Rest Point found Hap with the usual troubles of a first year man. Nevertheless. it was evident to all that he was an exceptional combination of ability and personality. His ability did not include, however, an insight into the realms of Calculus and Electricity. In the midst of many an hour of coaching he would almost certainly turn up with a "Dogface" cartoon. when the result should have been a curve expressing the relationship between x and y or the output of a triode tube. His vivid tales of the day's exploits in the Electricity Laboratory kept everyone laughing. At regular intervals his cartoons appeared in The Pointer-usually portraying a cold. wet Infantryman.

During yearling year he met Janet Vroom, and the result was a wedding after graduation. They were frequently together during weekends at the Academy or in Ossining, at the Vrooms'. On Sunday night Hap would eagerly attack a tasty snack prepared by Jan, and share it with those of us less fortunate.

During First Class summer Hap was assigned to Fort Jackson as as instructor and did a superior job in the work he always wanted. He had an unusual ability in understanding people. and it served him well, as he inspired others by his thought, word and deed. His foremost goal in life was to be a good Infantry officer. and his enthusiastic support for the "Queen of Battles" never ceased.

The day after graduation Hap married Janet in the Catholic Chapel at West Point .
They went to Ft. Riley after summer leave and became members of the underground apartment dwellers. Upon completion of the Officers' Basic Course at the Ground General School, Hap was ordered to Ft. Benning, Georgia. The Wares settled in the new Camellia Apartments just outside the Benning gates, where they were surrounded by many "forty-niner" couples. A daughter, Lynn Arlette, was born on March 26, 1950, and the six months at Benning were almost perfect for them.
 

The Far East Command was Hap's next assignment. There awaited the job he had wanted for so long. He was pleased and proud of this opportunity to serve his country. In July 1950 Hap kissed his little family goodbye. flew to California to say hello and goodbye to his mother and his many friends there; then reported to the Seventh Division in Japan in August 1950, where he began intensive battle training in preparation for the invasion of Korea at Inchon. When he left he smiled and said "Don't worry about me, I'm just going to work". A short while after the landing Hap earned the coveted Combat Infantryman's Badge.

At the end of October, the 17th went. ashore again on the East coast at Iwon north of the 38th parallel and fought its way up to the Manchurian border. Hap was wounded near Pungsan, as he went forward with his men to secure a hill. He was evacuated by air and died November 5. 1950, aboard a hospital ship at Wonsan, Korea.

Letters received from Korea describe Hap as an excellent officer, well-liked and respected by officers and enlisted men alike. They describe a memorial service held in his honor by his Company. The Chaplain who conducted this memorial service for Happy wrote to Janet. "The officers and men solemnly pledged themselves to be better Christians and soldiers as a memorial to your husband". One fellow officer wrote his personal feelings. "I don't know- how a man as brave as he was could diewith his spirit".Happy was a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church. In Hollywood, California,- and his paster wrote of him that he always admired him for his spiritual and physical,beauty. He had spiritual tendencies seldom found ft one so young; and his military posture, poise and carriage made him out standing.

He was a 'man of highest qualities, tolerant of faults of his fellowmen, and always made it a point never to criticize another person. He had a keen sense of humor and a cheerful spirit, and his unselfishness and friendly manner endeared him to all who knew him.

Happy is survived by his wife Janet Marcelle, his baby daughter Lynn Arlette, and his mother, Mrs. Marie J. Ware of Los Angeles. If he had to die, he went the way be wanted to go-to join the heroes who have gone before. Harry Winfree Ware, Jr. was buried with full military honors in a military cemetery at Pukchong, Korea.

We can all profit by Happy's philosophy of life, as written by him in his autobiography when he was only sixteen years old:

"I have found, even in my few years of life, that a person must have ambition to accomplish his desires and purposes. His desires and purposes must be worthy. Ambition alone will not bring success; it must be backed by confidence and faith. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, `Have a purpose in life and, having it, throw into your work such strength of mind and muscle as God has given you'".

Mom
 
 

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