July 27, 2025 • 15 mins
This week’s episode is going to be a little different. So stay with me as I share the origin story of War and Family Letters Home
I often get asked what made me begin this podcast – so I thought I’d take you all back to where War and Family: Letters Home really began – to a wooden box in an antique store – to two of the dearest friends I was blessed to have in my life... And in doing so, I want to re-tell you the story of Lt. Phillip Ralph Harris — a U.S. Navy pilot who was killed in action on May 9, 1945.
I often get asked what made me begin this podcast – so I thought I’d take you all back to where War and Family: Letters Home really began – to a wooden box in an antique store – to two of the dearest friends I was blessed to have in my life... And in doing so, I want to re-tell you the story of Lt. Phillip Ralph Harris — a U.S. Navy pilot who was killed in action on May 9, 1945.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Welcome to Warren Family Letters Home. I'm your podcast host,
Lauren News. This podcast is about letters, real letters written
home by US servicemen and women during World War II,
and my mission is simple to return World War II
history to families, one letter and one story at a time.
(00:46):
It's easy to forget the lives that came before, the
stories that we remember. Every letter is a time capsule,
a voice echoing forward from a foxhole, a barracks bunk,
a ship, or field hospital. And my hope, my real hope,
is that someone listening today will hear a familiar name
or place and reach out because these letters home, Oh,
(01:09):
they belong home. This week's episode is going to be
a little different, so stay with me as I share
the origin story of Warren Family Letters Home. I often
(01:32):
get asked what made me begin this podcast, So I
thought i'd take you all back to where Warren Family
Letters Home really began, back to a wooden box in
an antique store, to two of the dearest friends I
was ever blessed to have in my life. And in
doing so, I want to retell you the story of
(01:55):
Lieutenant Philip Ralph Harris, a US Navy pilot who was
killed in action on May ninth, nineteen forty five. First,
let's start with that wooden box. It was twenty twenty
two and I was in Newburyport, Massachusetts, wandering through a
wonderful antique shop named Oldies. On a dusty shelf, tucked
(02:19):
between some mismatched lamps and a faded picture frames, sat
a handmade wooden box, light oak stain, a smooth finish.
The craftsmanship very nice. It looked like someone took real
pride in their work, and it measured about twenty inches long,
(02:39):
ten inches wide, and ten inches high. The lid lifted
off and set back down on the top of this
box perfectly Inside the box, written on one side was
what looked like a school grade B plus, and on
the other side a neat handwritten scrib that said made
(03:02):
by Philip Harris, shop Project High School, son of Ralph
and Grace Blakeman, brother of Donna Walworth County, Wisconsin, Navy
pilot lost over the Pacific World War two. That was it.
That was the message. I didn't know what I was
going to do with it, but I knew I couldn't
(03:23):
leave it there, so I bought it and I brought
it home. That box, that young man's high school shop
project became the heart of this podcast. You see, I've
always had a deep respect for World War Two veterans,
and I was blessed to know two of them personally.
One was mister Barney Gallagher, a journalist for the Army
(03:47):
Air Forces. He was actually on Tinian when the Annoli
Gay took off, and again when it landed, and he
once told me that he could still see Colonel Tibbets
waving from the cockpit like it was just yesterday. But
Barney's most treasured memory flying overhead, camera in hand when
(04:08):
Japan signed the surrender papers aboard the USS Missouri. He
saw the war end from the sky. The other was
mister John Ketsarus, a B seventeen gunner based out of Deanthorpe, England.
His bomber, The Man of War, was shot down over Rheims, France.
(04:28):
He was captured by the Gestapo, saved by the French underground,
and instead of heading home, he joined the French resistance
and became a spy. He told his story in a
book titled Code Burgundy The Long Escape, which you can
still find on Amazon. Mister John Ketsaris was an American
(04:49):
hero well decorated in both US and France, and I
was proud to call him my friend. Before I ever
found Philip Harris's boss, I had already started collecting letters
from World War Two soldiers, pieces of paper filled with hope, grief, fear,
and love. I once told mister Ketzarus about my dream
(05:12):
to share those stories, maybe some day in a book.
He looked at me across the table and said, simply,
with conviction, Well then do it. These men need their
stories told. After some attempts at writing that book, I
discovered podcasting and Warren Family Letters. Home was born, and
(05:37):
now back to Lieutenant Harris. Philip Harris was born July thirteenth,
nineteen twenty and Walworth County, Wisconsin, to Ralph and Grace Harris.
He had a younger sister named Donna, and they lived
and worked on a farm. By the nineteen forty census,
Philip was nineteen and finishing high school. There's no draft
(06:02):
card that I could find, but I did find a photo,
a black and white, a little grainy, and he was lean,
fair skinned, dark haired, with a calm and clear gaze.
In the fall of nineteen forty one, Philip volunteered for
the Naval Air Corps. He trained in Illinois Corpus Christi, Texas,
(06:23):
and earned his wings on September twenty fifth, nineteen forty two.
He was twenty two years old. On May twenty ninth,
nineteen forty three, he married Doris Margaret Connor of San Diego,
just before being deployed to the Pacific. He would go
on to fly a PB two Y Coronado, a massive
(06:45):
four engine flying boat. The Coronado wasn't some sleek fighter jet.
The Coronado was a beast. It stood twenty seven feet tall,
had one hundred and fifteen foot wingspan, and weighed sixty
eight thousand pounds fully loaded. It had no wheels because
it took off and landed on the water. Armed with
(07:09):
machine guns and able to carry up to one thousand
pounds of bombs. It was originally designed as a patrol bomber,
but there were problems big ones. Pilots had to wipe
the windshields with rags after water landings, and the crew
carried pencils not to write with, but to plug small
leaks after hard touchdowns. The plane was slow and had
(07:33):
limited range, and wasn't agile enough for real bombing missions. Soon,
Coronadoes were mostly reassigned to ISR missions, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Because they had no landing gear, Coronado stayed off shore,
tying up to ship tenders for Lieutenant Harris and his crew.
(07:55):
That tender was the USS Kenneth Whiting, anchored in a
bay off Karimaretto, about fifteen miles from Okinawa. Two days
after Germany surrendered, bringing the war in Europe to a close,
Lieutenant Harris and his ten man crew ran into trouble.
(08:16):
Here is the official naval account of the incident. On
May ninth, nineteen forty five, Lieutenant Harris and his crew
were returning from a patrol and arrived in the middle
of an air raid. The base at General Quarters was
under smoke a defensive action due to enemy aircraft in
the area, and the base ordered them back until it
(08:39):
was safe to return. After fourteen hours in the air,
the Coronado's fuel was critical now O three hundred. On
May tenth, Lieutenant Harris attempted an open sea night landing
ten miles south of Karimaretto. It is surmised that when
they made first contact with the water, they were so
(09:00):
low on fuel that the first touch to the water
must have bounced the plane to a high deck angle,
which prevented the low fuel supply from reaching the engines.
The second contact with the water without power was so
violent that the PB two Y broke up. Three survivors
(09:23):
were rescued from the sea after that crash co pilot
Lieutenant J. G. James Fleming Wright, aviation machinist's mate third
class David Lucius Collins, and Aviation Ordnanceman third class Walter
Raymond Costin Jr. The rest of the crew were reported missing,
(09:46):
their bodies never recovered. Navigator Cecil Mark Henley, aged twenty
three from Tennessee Aviation Machinist's mate third class, William Walter
Brown Leane twenty one of Montana Aviation Machinist's mate Bernard
Frederick Fallon twenty three from New York Aviation Radioman third class.
(10:12):
David Marvin Freshman, age twenty from New York Aviation Radioman
third class, William Wirt Hughes twenty eight of Missouri Aviation
Radio min third class, William Keith vincent age twenty six
of Arkansas Aviation Ordnanceman third class Carl Claiborne Crewe, twenty
(10:39):
one from Louisiana, whose daughter turned one years old just
two weeks after his death. And of course the pilot,
Lieutenant Philip Ralph Harris, aged twenty five, of Wisconsin, just
six years after building that wooden box in high school
(11:01):
shop class. These men are memorialized on the tablets of
the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii. If you
ever visit, I hope you'll take a moment and find
their names. Lieutenant Harris was married but had no children,
and I've tried pretty hard to find some extended family,
(11:21):
but with no luck. So for now I keep his
handmade wooden box and keep his memory alive the best
that I can. My podcast about Lieutenant Harris was used
as part of the Stories Behind the Stars project, a
nonprofit organization that seeks to tell the story of every
one of the four hundred thousand fallen heroes of World
(11:45):
War II. You can learn more about them at storiesbehind
the Stars dot org. I take the wooden box and
tell Lieutenant Harris's story at all events that I attend,
and now recently, thanks to the generosity of Stephanie Abear,
(12:05):
owner of the Talent Beating Company, and just happens to
be my daughter. A paver has been purchased in Lieutenant
Harris's honor at the National World War II Museum in
New Orleans. It will be placed in their Pathway to Victory.
I've received the certificate confirming the paver is being made
(12:27):
and I'll be posting a photo of that on my
Facebook page, and when it's installed, I'll share a photo
of that and let everyone know its exact location. Stephanie,
thank you for helping me to honor and remember Lieutenant Harris.
You can find the Talent Beating Company on Facebook. Stop
(12:48):
buy and take a look at Stephanie's beautiful beating art.
Thank you for joining me today to hear a little
background on the origin of Warren Family Letters Home and
(13:10):
to hear about my dear friends mister Barney Gallagher and
mister John Katsaris. I was so blessed to know both
of them and fondly remember them and honor their sacrifice
in World War II, and also to remember and honor
Lieutenant Philip Ralph Harris, who never made it home. Warren
(13:36):
Family Letters Home is completely self funded and we will
never ask a family to pay to receive a letter Home.
If you'd like to support my mission of returning history
to families, I'd love to hear from you. You can
find me on Facebook at Warren Family Letters Home, or
reach me by email at Warrenfamily at outlook dot com.
(14:01):
I think all of the details shared in the podcast
come from research I've done using public military records, genealogy resources,
and newspaper archives. Please continue to support on military, both
active duty and veterans. These men and women sacrifice so
much to serve this great country in both war and peacetime.
(14:25):
If you have a chance to shake a veteran's hand
and thank them for their service, please do it. Ask
to hear their stories where they served, their experiences. It's
important because, after all, they did it for you. Until
next week, I'm Lauren Muse, and you have been listening
(14:46):
to Warrant Family Letters Home. Became told them to
Welcome to Warren Family Letters Home. I'm your podcast host,
Lauren News. This podcast is about letters, real letters written
home by US servicemen and women during World War II,
and my mission is simple to return World War II
history to families, one letter and one story at a time.
(00:46):
It's easy to forget the lives that came before, the
stories that we remember. Every letter is a time capsule,
a voice echoing forward from a foxhole, a barracks bunk,
a ship, or field hospital. And my hope, my real hope,
is that someone listening today will hear a familiar name
or place and reach out because these letters home, Oh,
(01:09):
they belong home. This week's episode is going to be
a little different, so stay with me as I share
the origin story of Warren Family Letters Home. I often
(01:32):
get asked what made me begin this podcast, So I
thought i'd take you all back to where Warren Family
Letters Home really began, back to a wooden box in
an antique store, to two of the dearest friends I
was ever blessed to have in my life. And in
doing so, I want to retell you the story of
(01:55):
Lieutenant Philip Ralph Harris, a US Navy pilot who was
killed in action on May ninth, nineteen forty five. First,
let's start with that wooden box. It was twenty twenty
two and I was in Newburyport, Massachusetts, wandering through a
wonderful antique shop named Oldies. On a dusty shelf, tucked
(02:19):
between some mismatched lamps and a faded picture frames, sat
a handmade wooden box, light oak stain, a smooth finish.
The craftsmanship very nice. It looked like someone took real
pride in their work, and it measured about twenty inches long,
(02:39):
ten inches wide, and ten inches high. The lid lifted
off and set back down on the top of this
box perfectly Inside the box, written on one side was
what looked like a school grade B plus, and on
the other side a neat handwritten scrib that said made
(03:02):
by Philip Harris, shop Project High School, son of Ralph
and Grace Blakeman, brother of Donna Walworth County, Wisconsin, Navy
pilot lost over the Pacific World War two. That was it.
That was the message. I didn't know what I was
going to do with it, but I knew I couldn't
(03:23):
leave it there, so I bought it and I brought
it home. That box, that young man's high school shop
project became the heart of this podcast. You see, I've
always had a deep respect for World War Two veterans,
and I was blessed to know two of them personally.
One was mister Barney Gallagher, a journalist for the Army
(03:47):
Air Forces. He was actually on Tinian when the Annoli
Gay took off, and again when it landed, and he
once told me that he could still see Colonel Tibbets
waving from the cockpit like it was just yesterday. But
Barney's most treasured memory flying overhead, camera in hand when
(04:08):
Japan signed the surrender papers aboard the USS Missouri. He
saw the war end from the sky. The other was
mister John Ketsarus, a B seventeen gunner based out of Deanthorpe, England.
His bomber, The Man of War, was shot down over Rheims, France.
(04:28):
He was captured by the Gestapo, saved by the French underground,
and instead of heading home, he joined the French resistance
and became a spy. He told his story in a
book titled Code Burgundy The Long Escape, which you can
still find on Amazon. Mister John Ketsaris was an American
(04:49):
hero well decorated in both US and France, and I
was proud to call him my friend. Before I ever
found Philip Harris's boss, I had already started collecting letters
from World War Two soldiers, pieces of paper filled with hope, grief, fear,
and love. I once told mister Ketzarus about my dream
(05:12):
to share those stories, maybe some day in a book.
He looked at me across the table and said, simply,
with conviction, Well then do it. These men need their
stories told. After some attempts at writing that book, I
discovered podcasting and Warren Family Letters. Home was born, and
(05:37):
now back to Lieutenant Harris. Philip Harris was born July thirteenth,
nineteen twenty and Walworth County, Wisconsin, to Ralph and Grace Harris.
He had a younger sister named Donna, and they lived
and worked on a farm. By the nineteen forty census,
Philip was nineteen and finishing high school. There's no draft
(06:02):
card that I could find, but I did find a photo,
a black and white, a little grainy, and he was lean,
fair skinned, dark haired, with a calm and clear gaze.
In the fall of nineteen forty one, Philip volunteered for
the Naval Air Corps. He trained in Illinois Corpus Christi, Texas,
(06:23):
and earned his wings on September twenty fifth, nineteen forty two.
He was twenty two years old. On May twenty ninth,
nineteen forty three, he married Doris Margaret Connor of San Diego,
just before being deployed to the Pacific. He would go
on to fly a PB two Y Coronado, a massive
(06:45):
four engine flying boat. The Coronado wasn't some sleek fighter jet.
The Coronado was a beast. It stood twenty seven feet tall,
had one hundred and fifteen foot wingspan, and weighed sixty
eight thousand pounds fully loaded. It had no wheels because
it took off and landed on the water. Armed with
(07:09):
machine guns and able to carry up to one thousand
pounds of bombs. It was originally designed as a patrol bomber,
but there were problems big ones. Pilots had to wipe
the windshields with rags after water landings, and the crew
carried pencils not to write with, but to plug small
leaks after hard touchdowns. The plane was slow and had
(07:33):
limited range, and wasn't agile enough for real bombing missions. Soon,
Coronadoes were mostly reassigned to ISR missions, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Because they had no landing gear, Coronado stayed off shore,
tying up to ship tenders for Lieutenant Harris and his crew.
(07:55):
That tender was the USS Kenneth Whiting, anchored in a
bay off Karimaretto, about fifteen miles from Okinawa. Two days
after Germany surrendered, bringing the war in Europe to a close,
Lieutenant Harris and his ten man crew ran into trouble.
(08:16):
Here is the official naval account of the incident. On
May ninth, nineteen forty five, Lieutenant Harris and his crew
were returning from a patrol and arrived in the middle
of an air raid. The base at General Quarters was
under smoke a defensive action due to enemy aircraft in
the area, and the base ordered them back until it
(08:39):
was safe to return. After fourteen hours in the air,
the Coronado's fuel was critical now O three hundred. On
May tenth, Lieutenant Harris attempted an open sea night landing
ten miles south of Karimaretto. It is surmised that when
they made first contact with the water, they were so
(09:00):
low on fuel that the first touch to the water
must have bounced the plane to a high deck angle,
which prevented the low fuel supply from reaching the engines.
The second contact with the water without power was so
violent that the PB two Y broke up. Three survivors
(09:23):
were rescued from the sea after that crash co pilot
Lieutenant J. G. James Fleming Wright, aviation machinist's mate third
class David Lucius Collins, and Aviation Ordnanceman third class Walter
Raymond Costin Jr. The rest of the crew were reported missing,
(09:46):
their bodies never recovered. Navigator Cecil Mark Henley, aged twenty
three from Tennessee Aviation Machinist's mate third class, William Walter
Brown Leane twenty one of Montana Aviation Machinist's mate Bernard
Frederick Fallon twenty three from New York Aviation Radioman third class.
(10:12):
David Marvin Freshman, age twenty from New York Aviation Radioman
third class, William Wirt Hughes twenty eight of Missouri Aviation
Radio min third class, William Keith vincent age twenty six
of Arkansas Aviation Ordnanceman third class Carl Claiborne Crewe, twenty
(10:39):
one from Louisiana, whose daughter turned one years old just
two weeks after his death. And of course the pilot,
Lieutenant Philip Ralph Harris, aged twenty five, of Wisconsin, just
six years after building that wooden box in high school
(11:01):
shop class. These men are memorialized on the tablets of
the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Hawaii. If you
ever visit, I hope you'll take a moment and find
their names. Lieutenant Harris was married but had no children,
and I've tried pretty hard to find some extended family,
(11:21):
but with no luck. So for now I keep his
handmade wooden box and keep his memory alive the best
that I can. My podcast about Lieutenant Harris was used
as part of the Stories Behind the Stars project, a
nonprofit organization that seeks to tell the story of every
one of the four hundred thousand fallen heroes of World
(11:45):
War II. You can learn more about them at storiesbehind
the Stars dot org. I take the wooden box and
tell Lieutenant Harris's story at all events that I attend,
and now recently, thanks to the generosity of Stephanie Abear,
(12:05):
owner of the Talent Beating Company, and just happens to
be my daughter. A paver has been purchased in Lieutenant
Harris's honor at the National World War II Museum in
New Orleans. It will be placed in their Pathway to Victory.
I've received the certificate confirming the paver is being made
(12:27):
and I'll be posting a photo of that on my
Facebook page, and when it's installed, I'll share a photo
of that and let everyone know its exact location. Stephanie,
thank you for helping me to honor and remember Lieutenant Harris.
You can find the Talent Beating Company on Facebook. Stop
(12:48):
buy and take a look at Stephanie's beautiful beating art.
Thank you for joining me today to hear a little
background on the origin of Warren Family Letters Home and
(13:10):
to hear about my dear friends mister Barney Gallagher and
mister John Katsaris. I was so blessed to know both
of them and fondly remember them and honor their sacrifice
in World War II, and also to remember and honor
Lieutenant Philip Ralph Harris, who never made it home. Warren
(13:36):
Family Letters Home is completely self funded and we will
never ask a family to pay to receive a letter Home.
If you'd like to support my mission of returning history
to families, I'd love to hear from you. You can
find me on Facebook at Warren Family Letters Home, or
reach me by email at Warrenfamily at outlook dot com.
(14:01):
I think all of the details shared in the podcast
come from research I've done using public military records, genealogy resources,
and newspaper archives. Please continue to support on military, both
active duty and veterans. These men and women sacrifice so
much to serve this great country in both war and peacetime.
(14:25):
If you have a chance to shake a veteran's hand
and thank them for their service, please do it. Ask
to hear their stories where they served, their experiences. It's
important because, after all, they did it for you. Until
next week, I'm Lauren Muse, and you have been listening
(14:46):
to Warrant Family Letters Home. Became told them to
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