It’s a day forever etched in Roland B. Harris’s memory.
The Army retiree was stationed in what was then known as West Germany on Nov. 9, 1989, when he saw firsthand the realization of Ronald Reagan’s famous plea of “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” as people passed through the previously heavily fortified border wall separating East and West Germany.
“They walked right through it and sat down and prayed,” said Harris, who helped open the gate on that eventful day 35 years ago.
He remembers the excitement of the East Germans, many of whom shed tears of joy.
Harris, 78, served 24 years in the Signal Corps, after being drafted during the Vietnam War. Not only did he see the end of the Cold War first hand, he saw many changes within the Signal Corps and how information was exchanged.
“We went from microwave to data,” said Harris.
While it might not initially have been his choice to go into the military, Harris stayed in because he felt it gave him more opportunities than the civilian world did.
“I grew up in the segregated South,” he said.
His military career gave him the chance to travel and pursue a college degree. Once he retired, he became an instructor for GTE and continued working with Signal soldiers.
Harris’s story is one of many at the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home.
George Clarke is modest about his service, equating it to a civilian job rather than active duty, but a requirement of those living at the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home is to have served on active duty during specific periods of war.
Clarke graduated from high school in 1944 and said he was turned down twice from joining the military because he was near-sighted. He did enlist in October 1945, but fighting had ceased by then.
He was stationed at Fort Lee, Va., now known as Fort Gregg-Adams, and had what he considers a cream puff type of job doing office work. He said he knew where every building was on the installation. His job was to processing former German Prisoners of War.
“I helped the Germans going home,” he said.
After the Army, he was a newspaper publisher in Virginia then in Dalton, Georgia, retiring in 1978 and selling carpet after that.
Thomas Hubbard was drafted into the Army in 1961 and served for three years. He went to basic training in Oregon then spent much of service in Texas, where he was a driver.
One of eight children, several of whom also served in the military, Hubbard., 87, said he enjoyed military life, but when it was time to reenlist, they wanted a longer commitment than he was prepared to give – six years instead of two.
After leaving the military, he met someone who told him about job opportunities in Aiken, so he traveled South where he worked at Owens Corning Fiberglas for 16 years.
Don Martin Hayes, 87, served in the Navy right after the close of the Korean War from 1955 to 1959, spending time on a destroyer.
He was 17 when he joined the Navy. His travels to him to Australia, Japan, Korea and China, patrolling the waters and reporting back, he said.
Meeting the Australian people stood out to him.
“The Australians were really grateful to us for protecting them in the war,” he said.
Being in the Navy was good for him, and he enjoyed the experience, he said.
On Veterans Day, the men reflect on their days of service and remember those they served with.
Veterans Day, said Hayes, “is something to be thankful for the people who protected our country. I really appreciate the veterans for what they did.”
“They helped keep my country free, and there’s nothing like freedom,” said Harris.
The Augusta area will see several Veterans Day related events including Augusta’s Veterans Day parade at 10 a.m. Nov. 11 beginning at 13th and Greene Streets near Sacred Heart Cultural Center, a ceremony presented by members of American Legion Post 71 at 11 a.m. Nov. 11 at the Wade Hampton Park in North Augusta and a concert at Augusta University’s Maxwell Theatre from 2 to 4 p.m. Nov. 11.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
