ANDREW E. HARRIS, CDR, USN

Andrew Harris '25

Date of birth: December 26, 1900

Date of death: June 11, 1943

Age: 42

Lucky Bag

From the 1925 Lucky Bag:

Andrew Earl Harris

Versailles, Kentucky

"Andy" "Squire"

"YES, suh. And I don't mean maybe!"

Andy, sometimes, giving the boys the data about the charms—the ladies of good old Kentucky. He can give them, too, for when it comes to wimmen, he's the snake, boys, hips and all. While excelling in the popular pastime of snaking, he by no means confines his interest to that one art. He seems to share it among a variety of others and in the meanwhile has always held his own in the battle royal with the Ac Department.

But then, of course, Andy likes his game of bridge and must have it. And does he play it well? Yes, and all day long on Sundays—that is, when he has his partner from the Second deck across the table. They work well together, so well that Andy finds it hard to knock off, even to turn in for a night's sleep. And when he could dispense with sleep for a diversion, boys—then he likes it! He is even totally unconcerned with the how's and why's of Bullard's theories. He takes that gentleman at his word and lets it go at that.

"Don't cry, you'll get your inspection."

Andrew Earl Harris

Versailles, Kentucky

"Andy" "Squire"

"YES, suh. And I don't mean maybe!"

Andy, sometimes, giving the boys the data about the charms—the ladies of good old Kentucky. He can give them, too, for when it comes to wimmen, he's the snake, boys, hips and all. While excelling in the popular pastime of snaking, he by no means confines his interest to that one art. He seems to share it among a variety of others and in the meanwhile has always held his own in the battle royal with the Ac Department.

But then, of course, Andy likes his game of bridge and must have it. And does he play it well? Yes, and all day long on Sundays—that is, when he has his partner from the Second deck across the table. They work well together, so well that Andy finds it hard to knock off, even to turn in for a night's sleep. And when he could dispense with sleep for a diversion, boys—then he likes it! He is even totally unconcerned with the how's and why's of Bullard's theories. He takes that gentleman at his word and lets it go at that.

"Don't cry, you'll get your inspection."

Loss

Andrew died at a Japanese Prisoner of War camp near Cebu, Philippines, on June 11, 1943.

Andrew was commanding officer of USS Wake (PR 3), a gunboat in China, until November 28, 1941, when the ship was effectively abandoned in Shanghai because it was judged insufficiently seaworthy to cross the straits of Formosa. He and most of his crew sailed to Manila with the remaining gunboats.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Andrew married Lucia Burnam Bennett on February 24, 1934, at her mother’s home in Richmond, Kentucky. Their children were Waller Bennett born in San Diego in 1936 and Elizabeth “Betsy.”
His family was evacuated from Shanghai in November, 1940. He was ordered to the United States to take a new command, but with the outbreak of the war, he presented himself to the naval commandant and was ordered to join General MacArthur’s men in the withdrawal from Manila to Bataan and Corregidor.
He messaged his wife after the fall of Corregidor in 1942 but was listed as “missing in action” since the fall of Cebu. In March, 1943, his wife received information that Andrew was a Japanese prisoner of war.
In June 1943, his wife was notified that Andrew died in a prisoner of war camp in the Philippine islands on June 11. The cablegram was sent to the Navy Department by the Tokyo radio via the Prisoner of War Bureau at Geneva, Switzerland.
Andrew’s father was a farmer who died in 1924. His mother was Lena, and his brother was COL Field Harris, USMC. Andrew and Field’s half-brother was Palmer.

He was survived by his brother, Lieutenant General Field Harris, USMC, who was Chief of Staff, Aircraft at Guadalcanal. Field's son — Andrew's nephew — William Harris '39 was also captured by the Japanese, survived the war, and was then killed in action during the Korean War.

Andrew is buried in Kentucky; he was survived by his wife.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.

July 1925

Ensign, USS Texas

Others at this command:

Others at or embarked at this command:

LT Robert Larson '24 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)

LTjg Vernon Hain '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)

January 1936

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Milwaukee

Others at or embarked at this command:

LT Robert Larson '24 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 5B)

LTjg Vernon Hain '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)

April 1936

Lieutenant (j.g.), USS Milwaukee

Others at or embarked at this command:

LT Robert Larson '24 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 5B)

LTjg Vernon Hain '31 (Scouting Plane Squadron (VS) 6B)

July 1936

Lieutenant, USS Milwaukee

January 1937

Others at this command:

LCDR Joyce Ralph '23
LT John Bermingham '29

LTjg George McCutchan '33
LTjg Theodore Lyster, Jr. '36

ENS Kenneth Pound '37

June 1940

Lieutenant, commanding officer, USS Guam

Others at this command:

ENS James O'Rourke '37

November 1940

Lieutenant Commander, commanding officer, USS Guam

Others at this command:

LTjg James O'Rourke '37

April 1941

Lieutenant Commander, commanding officer, USS Guam

Others at this command:

LTjg James O'Rourke '37

Class of 1925

Andrew is one of 30 members of the Class of 1925 on Virtual Memorial Hall.

← William Graham, Jr. '25

Harry Hubbard '25 →

The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.

ANDREW E. HARRIS, CDR, USN

Andrew Harris '25

Lucky Bag

Andrew Earl Harris

Andrew Earl Harris

Loss

Other Information

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

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