Finding Aid for the Harry E. Kowal Second World War journal and photographs 2022.073.w.r
Andrew Harman
Center for American War Letters Archives
6/14/2023
Leatherby Libraries
Chapman University
Orange, CA 92866
speccoll@chapman.edu
Contributing Institution:
Center for American War Letters Archives
Title: Harry E. Kowal Second World War journal and photographs
source:
Kowal, Dan
Creator:
Kowal, Harry E., Second Lieutenant, 1921-2018
Creator:
Kowal, Katrina E.
Identifier/Call Number: 2022.073.w.r
Physical Description:
.25 Linear Feet
(1 folder)
Date (inclusive): 1943 February 13 - 1943 September 16
Abstract: This collection contains the one journal written by Lt. Harry E. Kowal, USA during the Second World War. Also included are
transcriptions, photographs, and biographical information.
Language of Material:
English
.
Container: WWII 81
Container: 16
Container: 1
This collection is open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Dan Kowal.
This collection is arranged by material type and chronology.
Second Lieutenant Harry E. Kowal, United States Army (12/19/1921 - 5/11/2018) was born in Janesville, Wisconsin to Harry and
Mary Kowal; one of seven children. He graduated from Janesville Senior High School in 1940 and entered the service in April
1942 and deployed to Brisbane, Australia in February 1943. He was one of four brothers to serve overseas, including:
- Corporal Ernest P. Kowal, United States Army, 157th Regiment, 45th Division, 7th Army
- Soundman Second Class George Kowal, United States Navy, served aboard a destroyer in the Pacific
- Soundman Second Class Floyd Kowal, United States Navy, served aboard a minesweeper in the Philippines
- Note: George and Floyd are twins; both enlisted November 9, 1942 and trained at Great Lakes Naval Training Station and Key West, Florida
Harry earned his officers' commission at a candidate school in Australia in May 1943 and served prior to that with the 2nd
Engineer Special Brigade in Australia and Papua New Guinea. He returned to the United States in September 1944 for hospitilization.
While home he married Margaret E. "Peggy" Benzie on November 30, 1944. He was given a medical discharge on August 12, 1945.
Harry later attended Milton College and worked for over 36 years for Gilman Engineering and Manufacturing, retiring in 1985.
He and Margaret had seven children and 21 grandchildren. Margaret passed away July 10, 2016 and Harry followed her in May
2018 and the two are interred at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Janesville.
Statement of Potentially Harmful Content
This collection may contain materials that are difficult to view, are potentially harmful, or use outdated and culturally
insensitive language. Chapman University preserves and makes these materials accessible to researchers to ensure long-term
accuracy of these historical records. This repository aims to not promote or otherwise celebrate this content, but to use
it for educational and research purposes.
Please see the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) "Statement on Potentially Harmful Content" for more information:
https://www.archives.gov/research/reparative-description/harmful-content
[Item title / description; Box "n" / Folder "n"], Harry E. Kowal Second World War journal and photographs (2023.073.w.r),
Center for American War Letters Archives, Chapman University, CA.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
This collection contains the one journal written by Lt. Harry E. Kowal, USA during the Second World War. Also included are
transcriptions, six photographs, and biographical information.
Also contained within this collection are transcriptions of Kowal's journal, as well as other letters, and notes from the
donor. Also included are biographical information, reproductions of separation papers, reproduction photographs of Kowal and
Margaret, one handwritten autobiography (photocopy), one short essay written by the donor's daughter Katrina (Harry's granddaughter)
for her eighth grade class, an interview conducted by a student intern at the Middleton Veterans Affairs hospital in Madison,
Wisconsin (December 2015), as well as a short memoir written by Harry of later recollections.
The journal was written in the form of a letter to Margaret, to be delivered upon his return. It recounts his travel between
Fort Dix, Fort Hamilton, and back to Fort Dix before embarking aboard a ship and eventually reaching to west coast. He then
left for the South Pacific and details his experiences and things he had seen on the islands. This includes casualties and
bodies left on beaches and in the jungle, with some discussion of combat and the state of the war.
In the last passage written September 16, 1943 he discusses visiting Buna and the battlefields there (Battle of Buna-Gona,
New Guinea Campaign, November 1942-Jan 1943). He discusses the destruction and the lingering bodies and skeletons, the cemeteries
created there, and a recounting of some of the action he was told by others.
He continues with the history of the area, the battles, the Japanese hospital still with skeletons and the story of Japan leasing the area five years prior and secretly setting it up for the coming war which gave them an advantage. He says "They knew every little hill, stream and trail in this territory. No wonder they have been so hard to drive out."When I was back in the States I, like everyone else, couldn't understand why we were so slow over here. Now I know. We fought through jungle so thick and swampy that it is almost impossible to pass through. The Japs had the benefit of well-built pillboxes and other prepared positions while we had to go in to get them.
There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the
responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Correspondence -- World War, 1939-1945
United States. -- Army.
World War (1939-1945) -- Pacific Area
Kowal, Dan