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Don Harris
By Daniel Brooks, BucksLocalNews.com
Although encompassing only two of Don Harris' 81 years, service in the U.S. Army had a major impact on his life and career. Stationed as a machine shop manager in Japan, Harris learned a great deal during the U.S. occupation of that country and particularly from the skills of Japanese Nationalists which were honed from centuries of tradition. Harris went on to teach those ways to many others as an instructor in vocational-technical education and engineering.
Born in West Philadelphia, Harris' family moved to Buckingham when he was nine months old and has been here ever since. The youngest of six - four of whom also served in the armed forces - Harris was a self-admitted hellion.
"I got away with a lot then simply because my parents were worn out from raising the five others!" he joked -- still with a devilish twinkle in his eyes. "I was always in trouble in school."
"Trouble," in those days, says Harris, was a propensity to prank and a general inattention to what was going on in school with a greater interest in what was happening after school. In 1943 the country was involved in World War II and Buckingham kids all went to the same four-room school house in a very under-populated township. "It was tough to get away with much because everyone knew you."
His hard-working parents worried that Harris was going down the maverick road a bit far and, when he was 15, they signed him into indentured apprenticeship at Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades in Media, Pa. In the more structured, "military" environment, Harris flourished by learning that while not academically motivated, "I'm a hands on guy."
The school not only taught him skills and replenished his self-esteem but it also helped him, very coincidentally, later in life, and 10,000 miles from Buckingham in the U.S. Army.
Unlike many stories from veterans who speak about patriotic enlistment motivation, Harris points out that when he graduated from Williamson in 1946 the war was over, many GIs had returned and there were few jobs in the area so he took a hike to the recruitment center. His hope for placement and further training in mechanics and staying stateside was not meant to be -- after basic training at Fort Lee in Virginia he was shipped off to Japan.
Japan had been ravished by WWII and was trying to rebuild while another conflict threatened borders in neighboring Korea. Once in Japan, Harris signed on to the 62nd Signal Battalion and found himself running a welding and machine shop. Later he was transferred to the 11th Airborne Division and he served at Saporo, the north island of Hokaitio until insured a parachuting position. By sheer coincidence, his First Sergeant was from Buckingham and he also had graduated from Williamson.
"They tell you at Williamson that wherever you go in the world you will find a Williamson graduate but this was extreme," he marveled. Although faced with an opportunity to go to officer's training school, Harris decided that he was far better off using the talents he had gleaned to the benefit of Japan's reconstruction.
"The Japanese people totally amazed me in their resilience and ability to forge onward," he said. "They were totally accepting of their defeat. They just wanted to get back to their old lives."
Observant Harris toured the island, carefully watching the ways in which Japanese had learned to farm and build using basic tools and what nature had endowed them with. "I watched how rice paddies were systemically harvested. They were tied to water elevations and planting done with the most primitive of instruments."
After his tour, Harris returned to civilian life and joined his brother's engineering business for a decade. Then in 1963 he moved to Tyrone, Pa. where he earned his master degree from nearby Penn State University, only to then become an Itinerant Teacher tat PSU for another decade. In State College, Harris settled with his wife of 55 years, Martha, and raised their two children: Tina, now 52 and living in Los Angeles; and John, 49, who lives in Nazareth. He now has two grandchildren.
As a "traveling professor," Harris was instrumental in setting up Penn State's cooperative teacher program in vocational-technical education and he recruited students for it from all over Pennsylvania. He took the average attendance from four to 225 in two years and influenced many who, like himself, found their interests and skills to be centered in what they could do with their hands. While doing this he earned his Doctorate (DED) degree.
Later, Harris had the opportunity to come full circle as Director of Education at the Williamson School and give back to the institution that had pulled him together years before. He served Williamson for ten years until swooped up by the Philadelphia School District where he served as both supervisor and trade coordinator for 26 schools. He retired in 1993.
In all those years, Harris never forgot the lessons he learned from the Japanese while serving in the military.
"Though dirt poor, they were educationally driven. They would starve themselves so that they could go to school. In using their time-tested methods, these folks are actually hydraulic engineers. They know how to be precise, using the topography that is indigenous."
Harris is the president of the Home Association at New Hope's American Legion Post 79, continues his work in education and advocacy with other veterans. He knows how to get them medical benefits and guide them through financing. He hopes that the post will grow and sees it as a potential community center for all, and particularly for disenfranchised veterans of Vietnam, Desert Storm and those currently returning from Iraq. "Not only can we help them reintegrate socially, we can guide them to services they may need."
He pointed out the many philanthropic endeavors of the Post, which include financial support of the Eagle Fire Company and the New Hope-Lambertville Rescue Squad as well as citizenship awards to local high school students. One of the scholarships awarded by the Post is for vocational-technical training.
True to his commitments in life, Harris is also still an advocate for his old Alma Mater, Williamson, and he heartily encourages exploration of what they can provide students by calling the Registrar, Anne Hayes, at 610 566.1776.
As for himself, like his father and grandfather, Harris plans "projects" everyday. Right now he is working on putting up a stone wall. Not a day goes by that he can't be seen in his Rabbit Run yard figuring or building something. "My grandfather died at 96. He always had a project going. Good Lord, willing, I am planning the same for myself."
Although encompassing only two of Don Harris' 81 years, service in the U.S. Army had a major impact on his life and career. Stationed as a machine shop manager in Japan, Harris learned a great deal during the U.S. occupation of that country and particularly from the skills of Japanese Nationalists which were honed from centuries of tradition. Harris went on to teach those ways to many others as an instructor in vocational-technical education and engineering.
Born in West Philadelphia, Harris' family moved to Buckingham when he was nine months old and has been here ever since. The youngest of six - four of whom also served in the armed forces - Harris was a self-admitted hellion.
"I got away with a lot then simply because my parents were worn out from raising the five others!" he joked -- still with a devilish twinkle in his eyes. "I was always in trouble in school."
"Trouble," in those days, says Harris, was a propensity to prank and a general inattention to what was going on in school with a greater interest in what was happening after school. In 1943 the country was involved in World War II and Buckingham kids all went to the same four-room school house in a very under-populated township. "It was tough to get away with much because everyone knew you."
His hard-working parents worried that Harris was going down the maverick road a bit far and, when he was 15, they signed him into indentured apprenticeship at Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades in Media, Pa. In the more structured, "military" environment, Harris flourished by learning that while not academically motivated, "I'm a hands on guy."
The school not only taught him skills and replenished his self-esteem but it also helped him, very coincidentally, later in life, and 10,000 miles from Buckingham in the U.S. Army.
Unlike many stories from veterans who speak about patriotic enlistment motivation, Harris points out that when he graduated from Williamson in 1946 the war was over, many GIs had returned and there were few jobs in the area so he took a hike to the recruitment center. His hope for placement and further training in mechanics and staying stateside was not meant to be -- after basic training at Fort Lee in Virginia he was shipped off to Japan.
Japan had been ravished by WWII and was trying to rebuild while another conflict threatened borders in neighboring Korea. Once in Japan, Harris signed on to the 62nd Signal Battalion and found himself running a welding and machine shop. Later he was transferred to the 11th Airborne Division and he served at Saporo, the north island of Hokaitio until insured a parachuting position. By sheer coincidence, his First Sergeant was from Buckingham and he also had graduated from Williamson.
"They tell you at Williamson that wherever you go in the world you will find a Williamson graduate but this was extreme," he marveled. Although faced with an opportunity to go to officer's training school, Harris decided that he was far better off using the talents he had gleaned to the benefit of Japan's reconstruction.
"The Japanese people totally amazed me in their resilience and ability to forge onward," he said. "They were totally accepting of their defeat. They just wanted to get back to their old lives."
Observant Harris toured the island, carefully watching the ways in which Japanese had learned to farm and build using basic tools and what nature had endowed them with. "I watched how rice paddies were systemically harvested. They were tied to water elevations and planting done with the most primitive of instruments."
After his tour, Harris returned to civilian life and joined his brother's engineering business for a decade. Then in 1963 he moved to Tyrone, Pa. where he earned his master degree from nearby Penn State University, only to then become an Itinerant Teacher tat PSU for another decade. In State College, Harris settled with his wife of 55 years, Martha, and raised their two children: Tina, now 52 and living in Los Angeles; and John, 49, who lives in Nazareth. He now has two grandchildren.
As a "traveling professor," Harris was instrumental in setting up Penn State's cooperative teacher program in vocational-technical education and he recruited students for it from all over Pennsylvania. He took the average attendance from four to 225 in two years and influenced many who, like himself, found their interests and skills to be centered in what they could do with their hands. While doing this he earned his Doctorate (DED) degree.
Later, Harris had the opportunity to come full circle as Director of Education at the Williamson School and give back to the institution that had pulled him together years before. He served Williamson for ten years until swooped up by the Philadelphia School District where he served as both supervisor and trade coordinator for 26 schools. He retired in 1993.
In all those years, Harris never forgot the lessons he learned from the Japanese while serving in the military.
"Though dirt poor, they were educationally driven. They would starve themselves so that they could go to school. In using their time-tested methods, these folks are actually hydraulic engineers. They know how to be precise, using the topography that is indigenous."
Harris is the president of the Home Association at New Hope's American Legion Post 79, continues his work in education and advocacy with other veterans. He knows how to get them medical benefits and guide them through financing. He hopes that the post will grow and sees it as a potential community center for all, and particularly for disenfranchised veterans of Vietnam, Desert Storm and those currently returning from Iraq. "Not only can we help them reintegrate socially, we can guide them to services they may need."
He pointed out the many philanthropic endeavors of the Post, which include financial support of the Eagle Fire Company and the New Hope-Lambertville Rescue Squad as well as citizenship awards to local high school students. One of the scholarships awarded by the Post is for vocational-technical training.
True to his commitments in life, Harris is also still an advocate for his old Alma Mater, Williamson, and he heartily encourages exploration of what they can provide students by calling the Registrar, Anne Hayes, at 610 566.1776.
As for himself, like his father and grandfather, Harris plans "projects" everyday. Right now he is working on putting up a stone wall. Not a day goes by that he can't be seen in his Rabbit Run yard figuring or building something. "My grandfather died at 96. He always had a project going. Good Lord, willing, I am planning the same for myself."
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