That spring he joined the army. Bess finally agreed to marry him, but now...
HARRY REFUSED!!
"I don't think it would be right for me to ask you to tie yourself to a perspective cripple."
The great war had already taken a whole generation of Europe's young men.
Harry didn't have to go. He was technically blind in one eye.
He wouldn't have been accepted at all if it weren't for the fact that HE MEMORIZED THE EYE CHART!
Harry made Captain.
He was sent to France and given command of four rapid fire guns and 194 men.
On July 11, 1918, Harry met the men of battery D, a rowdy bunch of Kansas City Irishmen who specialized in wearing out commanding officers. Little did they know that this little man with glasses would turn them into a disciplined, loyal outfit. The test of combat lay ahead.
On Aug. 29, 1918, Battery D fired 500 rounds of artillery at a German position.
When the Germans returned fire, some of Truman's men panicked and ran. Harry saw what was happening and started calling them every name he could think of...(and he knew a lot of names). Cursing and yelling, Truman drove his men back to their positions. He later wrote Bess...
"My greatest satisfaction is that my legs didn't succeed in carrying me away, although they were very anxious to do it."
By November the war to end all wars was over.
Harry returned home a hero; and he had earned the respect of the men in Battery D.
Capt. Truman and Battery D had seen some of the bloodiest fighting in American history.
He was proud of the fact that through all the fighting, he had not lost a single man.
With the war over, all Harry wanted now was to settle down with his Bess...
