[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S4198]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING HAROLD E. WARD

 Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, when author Tom Brokaw called 
Americans who came of age during World War II the ``greatest 
generation,'' he had in mind remarkable people like Harold E. Ward, who 
passed away last week. Mr. Ward lived nearly six decades in Lee, NH, 
where neighbors knew him for his kindness and warm smile. But few knew 
that during his 94 years he bore witness to some of the most profound 
events and transformations of 20th and 21st century America.
  In his teens, during the Great Depression, he experienced dire 
poverty and frequent hunger, enduring what he called ``missed meal 
cramps.'' As an African American, he endured the slights and 
segregation of Jim Crow, including when he joined the Navy 2 years 
before the United States entered World War II. Mr. Ward had graduated 
from trade school as a skilled electrician, but the few African 
Americans serving in the Navy were routinely assigned to menial 
positions such as stewards for ship officers. It was only later, after 
desegregation of the military, that he became a cook.
  On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, he was on duty aboard the USS 
San Francisco at Pearl Harbor. From his battle station, he witnessed 
the most devastating foreign attack ever carried out against our 
military on U.S. soil.
  That was Harold Ward's first taste of combat but far from the last. 
Eleven months later, serving in the Pacific during the Battle of 
Guadalcanal, he survived numerous wounds from shell fragments and 
watched a close friend die next to him. He was awarded the Purple 
Heart. But, referring to shrapnel permanently embedded in his legs, he 
later said, ``I wear my medals on my body.'' Recalling the prejudice he 
faced as a Black sailor, he told a local newspaper: ``You look back on 
it, and despite the fact there was such a separation of people, all the 
blood ran red.''
  Harold Ward served two decades in the Navy, retiring as first class 
petty officer commissary steward. He went on to use his culinary skills 
at restaurants in Exeter and Durham, NH, including his own restaurant, 
Harold's Place, and also worked as a part-time police officer in Lee.
  Mr. Ward was a 55-year member, past commander, and chaplain of 
American Legion Post 67 in Newmarket, NH, and a founding member and 
past commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10676 in Lee. He lived 
to witness the end of legal segregation, the triumphs of the civil 
rights movement, and the election and reelection of an African-American 
President.
  Across the decades, Mr. Ward was a gifted mentor to countless young 
people who crossed his path. Harold and his wife Virginia treated these 
young men and women as members of the Ward family, giving them love, 
counsel, and a place to call home.
  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, ``Life's most urgent and 
persistent question is: What are you doing for others?'' Across his 
eventful life, Harold Ward answered that question in powerful ways, 
including service to his country, to his community, and to anyone he 
encountered who needed a helping hand or a wise word.
  Harold was predeceased by his beloved wife Virginia and two sons, 
Bruce and Theodore. He is remembered with much love by daughters Linda 
and Harriet and son Michael. The Lee community is mourning his passing, 
as are countless people whose lives he touched. On behalf of the United 
States Senate and a grateful nation, I thank Harold Ward for his many 
years of dedicated service. May he rest in peace.

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