Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4B
August 3, 2016
^Reporter
Around Monroe County
Farmer Bob wants ‘rest of stoiy’ known in WWII attack
BY DIANE
GLIDEWELL
news@mymcr. net
Bob Harris, 90, is
known to many in
Monroe County as
‘Farmer Bob’ because of
his success at growing
vegetables, and for being
a World War II veteran.
But as he’s getting
older, Harris visited
the Reporter on July 20
wanting them to know
one thing he’s never told:
What really happened
the day a mine struck his
ship and killed many of
his friends in the latter
days of WW2.
Harris was a 19 year
old sailor serving on the
U.S.S. Chestatee, a newly
built tanker ship named
for a Georgia river. It
happened 10 days before
the Japanese surrendered
on Aug. 15, 1945 and the
war in the Pacific offi
cially ended. There were
122 men and six officers
the destroyer 50 miles
away. The captain said
to change course to reach
the destroyer quicker.
The executive officer
said they couldn’t change
course because only the
route they were on had
been swept for mines.
The captain decided to
change course anyway, a
decision that was known
only to Harris, the cap
tain and the executive
officer.
That change resulted
in the U.S.S. Chestatee
hitting a mine that blew
a hole the size of a bed
room in the ship with
such force that it blew
200 drums of oil from the
cargo hole over the bow,
drenching the whole ship
in hot oil. A close friend
of Harris, who was from
Atlanta, died instantly,
blown to bits by the
concussion. Less than
an hour earlier, he and
Harris had been chatting
island in the Phillippines, spotted the
where it could bury the fire and
dead. The captain, who traveled
was burned over two- at flight
thirds of his body, had speed, was
been taken by plane for able to get
medical attention but had to them
ordered that the sailors and rescue
not be buried at sea. the men on
Harris said his comrades the bow.
were placed in caskets As they
made of wood and laid to circled, the
rest on a hill overlooking men above
the ship. hollered for
As bad as it was, Harris help and
said the blast from the screamed
mine would have been not to
much more deadly had it strike a
occurred just 30 minutes match
sooner. He said if it had, because
he would not be here tell- they feared
ing the story because two- that the
thirds of the ship’s men, oil-soaked
including him, had been deck could
on deck getting a shower become an
to save water. inferno.
He was below when he “I don’t
heard the blast and, as know what
others ran from the fire we would
burning on deck, he ran have done
toward it and he, two if the ship
Above, Bob Harris talks of memories and lessons on gardening from
his porch in Forsyth. Below, left, he is pictured with a group of his ship
mates from the U.S.S. Chestatee in 1945. Below is a picture of the ship
in drydock while the huge hole blown in it by a mine was repaired.
o
*
—-'"a*
sank,” he said.
“It was dark
when the ren
dezvous came;
we were imme
diately pulled
into the ship.
We felt safe
with the escort
next to us.”
Harris joined
the Navy on
Jan. 20, 1943,
just over two
months after
he turned 17.
His mother and
father had to
sign for him to
join. He report
ed for duty in
Macon with 21
other young
men.
“When I saw
what
the Korean War. When
WWII ended, just after
the mine hit his ship,
Harris had enough points
to be discharged from
the military and headed
back home. He spent his
20th birthday, Nov. 23,
in port on Thanksgiving
in Portland, Oregon with
7,500 other shipmates
returning from the war.
He and his first wife,
Berta, were married 52
years and raised a son
and two daughters, who
are now 68, 66, and 64.
He and his second wife,
Betty, have been married
for almost 17 years.
“I just want to tell the
story,” said Harris. “I
could talk about it six
months after the men I
was with went to heaven.
Everything is happening
so fast in the world today.
The story is about our
relations with everybody;
the way you cure things
is with love.”
Harris said he would
recommend military
service to young people
today because of the
knowledge one can gain.
“I would say yes, it’s
some of the best experi
ences you can have,” he
said.
After the war, Harris
built houses for many
years but retired from
that, moved from Macon
to Monroe County about
25 years ago, where he
has spent much of the
last two decades perfect
ing his love of growing
things.
on the tanker, which
was headed from the
Phillippines to Borneo
loaded with fuel for an air
field that had just been
taken from the Japanese.
It was a dangerous mis
sion in a Pacific Ocean
heavily patrolled by
the Japanese both from
the water and the air.
Harris’s boat was to ren
dezvous with a destroyer
that would escort it.
Harris was on duty
when radar picked up
on their bunks before
he left, saying, “See you
tomorrow.” Over 70 years
later, Harris fought back
tears as he remembered
the emotions.
Five other sailors died
in the incident. Harris
said that one of them
was only 15 years old
and that he gave him his
last drink of water before
he let go of life. It took
the ship three days to
limp the 150 miles back
to Puerto Princessa, an
other radar men and the
captain were able to put
it out. Harris was bare
foot and in his shorts and
remembers slipping and
sliding on the deck in the
oil.
The executive officer
ordered Harris to get in
a life boat with two other
sailors and keep cir
cling the ship until their
destroyer escort was able
to reach them. They did
so for over an hour until
the destroyer, which had
happened at
Pearl Harbor,
I said I was
going to join
the Navy,” said
Harris. “I had
never seen the
ocean before.”
Three of
Harris’s broth
ers also served
in the Navy in
WWII, and a
fourth brother
served in the
Navy during
‘Big’ news at Forsyth Farmers Market
BY DIANE
GLIDEWELL
7iews@inymcr.net
Doug Justice of
Justice Farms will
again give folks a
chance to guess the
weight of the giant
watermelon he has
grown to tease them
with visions of cool,
juicy sweetness. On
Friday, Aug. 5 Justice
will bring the extra -
plus-sized melon to
the Forsyth Farmers
Market for patrons to
view and enter guesses
on its weight. He is
offering a prize of $20
in produce, plus some
great bragging rights,
to whoever makes the
closest guess to the big
melon's weight.
Justice will be at the
Farmers Market from
8 a.m.-6 p.m. He is the
first vendor, closest
to town, and has been
at the market every
Friday since it- opened
in Forsyth about- eight-
years ago. The Forsyth
Farmers Market- is
on North Jackson
Street- behind Persons
Banking Company
and is open each May
through October.
Justice raises a vari
ety of vegetables and
fruits on five acres in
Knoxville and credits
good, well-drained soil
and drip irrigation for
producing the giant-
watermelon as well as a
multitude of top quality
produce. Justice said
although this season
has not produced a lot
of giant- melons and he
has had t-o fight- off coy
otes, who love the mel
ons as much as people
do, he does have a good
selection of sweet- small
er watermelons for sale.
He also brings other
items to town for his
customers, such as this
year's picture-perfect-
crop of Dickey's peach
es. His boiled peanuts
are a favorite at- the
market- Other seasonal
items now available
include several variet
ies of peppers, green
beans, cucumbers, yel
low squash, zucchini,
egg plant-, tomatoes
from Osage Farms of
northeast- Georgia, red
potatoes and sweet-
potatoes.
Last- year's melon
weighed in at- 119
pounds, and June Ham
of Rome, Ga. won the
prize with the closest-
guess of 118. Martin
Presley bought- the
melon for a family with
a bunch of watermelon-
loving boys who he
knew would enjoy it.
Doug Justice of Justice Farms is pictured with one of the
giant Jubilee melons he brought to Forsyth Farmers Market
last year. He is challenging you to guess the weight of his
biggest 2016 watermelon this Friday, Aug. 5
1 ■ 1 1
"•SHOW
BULLDOG
PRIDE!
Don’t Litter
New signs of pride
The volunteer group working to make Forsyth more attractive
for both those who live and work here and for those who visit-, has
placed two signs to remind everyone that- pride and litter don’t-
mix. Beautify Forsyth put- one sign near an entrance to Mary
Persons High School and a second one on Martin Luther King Jr.
Drive.
Dr. Tom Perry, chairman of Beautify Forsyth, said he hopes the
signs, which read “Show Bulldog Pride! Don’t- Litter,” will remind
citizens of the importance of keeping the city clean as they return
from summer breaks and a new school year begins. The group has
two more signs ready: plans are to put- new ones at- the Monroe
County Recreation Department- entrance and at- North Frontage
Road at- Hwy. 83.
Beautify Forsyth will meet- at- 9 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 5 at-
Alderman Hall. He invites everyone interested in keeping Forsyth
clean and beautiful to participate.
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