Harry A. Morris

Harry A. Morris
Personal details
Born	1910
Died	1992
Nativity	United States
Religion	Catholic
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Arm / service	Infantry
ASN	01323465
Rank	Captain
Rank at Ritchie	Second Lieutenant
Camp Ritchie	Class 14 (2 December 1943 – 31 January 1944)
Section	6C
Unit / division	XX Corps

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Harry A. Morris was a U.S.-born Ritchie Boy (Class 14) who led combat intelligence for XX Corps with Patton’s Third Army across France.

Biography

Harry A. Morris graduated from the University of Missouri (accounting and statistics, then law on scholarship) and practiced law in Kansas City while wearing a Phi Beta Kappa key and speaking French, Italian, and Greek. He volunteered in November 1942, trained in the infantry at Camp Wolters, Texas, then went to officer candidate school at Fort Benning and combat intelligence training at Camp Roberts, California.

At Camp Ritchie (Class 14) he finished first in his class and was sent to England in February 1944 for advanced work. As a lieutenant (later captain) he headed the intelligence unit of XX Corps with Patton’s Third Army on the Cherbourg peninsula, watched the 25 July 1944 bombardment that opened the Normandy breakthrough, and repeatedly flew ahead of the advance in an L-4 liaison plane to contact the Maquis. Near Angers his small armored party seized a railroad bridge after Germans demolished a road bridge over the Loire—he kept the German cigarette lighter used to fire the charge.

After the war Morris returned to law practice in Kansas City. A Sigma Phi Epsilon alumni profile titled “A War Hero the Hard Way” recounted his French campaign.

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	82
Class_ASN	323465
Class_Name	MORRIS, Harry A.
match_method	asn_partial_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• University of Missouri — Accounting/statistics then law; Kansas City practice.
• November 1942 — Volunteered; Camp Wolters infantry; Fort Benning OCS; Camp Roberts combat intelligence.
• Camp Ritchie Class 14 — Finished first; to England February 1944.
• July 1944 onward — XX Corps intelligence with Patton’s Third Army; Normandy breakthrough; Loire bridges near Angers.
• Postwar — Law practice, Kansas City.

Sources

• Sigma Phi Epsilon Journal — “A War Hero the Hard Way” profile of Capt. Harry A. Morris (RB Archive PDF / page scans)
• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2022-12-20 (1 post)