Arnold Junior Harrison

Arnold was born in Isabella Township, Michigan, on 20 November 1923. While he was the only son born to Arnold Guy Harrison and Matilda “Tilley” Levay Harrison, “Arnie” was the darling of three older sisters – Helen, Frances, and Lucille – from his father’s previous marriage. Not long after Arnie’s arrival, the Harrison family moved from Michigan to Ventura, California, and settled in Fillmore.

Arnie spent most of his youth in Fillmore; he developed an interest in music, and was active in the marching band at Fillmore High School. His family life upended in 1941, however, when his parents divorced. Matilda headed back to the Midwest to marry Joseph Doucet (a turbulent union which ended in 1943) while Arnie stayed in California with his father.

After graduating from Fillmore High with the class of 1942, Arnie cast about for a job. He moved to New Mexico to work for the Santa Fe airport; while there, he registered for Selective Service. Later that year, he traveled to Detroit – probably to visit his mother – and while there, decided to enlist in the Marine Corps.

Arnie enlisted in the Marine Corps at Detroit on 15 October 1942. He was shortly on his way back to California for boot camp in San Diego, and by January was a member of the 12th Defense Battalion. Just before the unit deployed overseas to Pearl Harbor, Arnie transferred to Tank School at Camp Elliott for additional training.

However, Private Harrison did not take to a tanker’s life, and eventually deployed overseas to New Zealand with the 11th Replacement Battalion. He joined Company B, First Battalion, 2nd Marines on 6 April 1943, and spent the next several months training with this rifle company. He showed promise in this new assignment, and was promoted to Private First Class during the summer.

In October, Pellerito and his company boarded the USS Harry Lee and departed New Zealand for their next operation – the invasion of Tarawa.

On 20 November 1943, the First Battalion 2nd Marines was assigned as the regimental reserve for units landing on Beaches Red One and Red Two. The assault waves were subjected to devastating fire from the moment they crossed the island’s coral reef, and suffered heavy casualties while coming ashore and on the beach itself. By 1030, the reserve units were struggling towards the beach themselves and making a tough landing under fire.

The day of the landings happened to coincide with Arnie Harrison’s twentieth birthday – and he would not grow any older. A gunshot wound in the head snuffed out his life somewhere along Betio’s northern shore.

After the battle, PFC Harrison was reportedly buried in the Beach Red 2 Cemetery (also known as Central Division Cemetery). However, due to the confused nature of burials, three different graves were mentioned:

Row 2, Grave 92
Row 2, Grave 30
Row C, Grave 98

A memorial marker with his name was erected in Cemetery 26, Grave 10, Row 2, Plot 1.

When PFC Harrison’s burial ground (re-designated as Cemetery 26) was exhumed by Graves Registration personnel in 1947, his remains were not among those identified. Nor could the technicians at the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii provide any further clues. He was declared non-recoverable in 1949.

In 2016, a DPAA directive led to the exhumation of unidentified remains in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Using modern identification methods, including dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, the remains of X-166 were positively associated with Arnold Harrison.

The official identification was announced on 10 October 2017.

CENOTAPHS
Honolulu Memorial, Tablets of the Missing

FINAL BURIAL
Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery