This website will be unavailable from Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, June 3, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.

                                                                                

79S11177 MMS-D

By:  Geren                                                        H.R. No. 427



R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, A large community of veterans join the family and 
friends of Dewitt Dodson Harris in mourning the loss of this brave 
and decent man on June 27, 2005, at the age of 87; and
	WHEREAS, A native of Wills Point, Mr. Harris joined the Texas 
National Guard while still in high school; mobilized with his 
division in November 1940, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 
131st Field Artillery, 36th Division, which is renowned today as 
one of the most decorated of all Texas units; and
	WHEREAS, In November 1941, the 2nd Battalion was shipped to 
the Philippines, in support of General Douglas MacArthur, and the 
men passed through Pearl Harbor seven days before it was attacked; 
diverted to Australia, they spent Christmas 1941 in Brisbane and 
then embarked for Java, in the Dutch East Indies; on March 8, 1942, 
the Dutch surrendered Java to invading Japanese forces, and Mr. 
Harris and his fellow soldiers spent the next 42 months as prisoners 
of war; and
	WHEREAS, Subsisting on a cup of rice a day, the men were put 
to work building the notorious Death Railway through Thailand and 
Burma, now Myanmar; a fictional account of their ordeal was 
published as The Bridge over the River Kwai in 1954 and made into a 
film in 1957; during the final year of his captivity, Mr. Harris 
labored in coal mines in Japan; and
	WHEREAS, While held a prisoner, Corporal Harris contracted 
malaria, and by the time of his liberation in August 1945, his 
weight had dropped to 78 pounds; in spite of the hardships he had 
endured, his attitude toward his former captors was one of sympathy 
and forgiveness; and
	 WHEREAS, Following the war, Mr. Harris held a variety of jobs 
before joining E-Systems; he remained with that company for 16 
years, working in the parts department and servicing airplanes, 
until his retirement in 1970; and
	WHEREAS, A recipient of the Purple Heart, Mr. Harris served 
as commander of the Disabled American Veterans in Van Zandt County 
and held lifetime membership in both the Veterans of Foreign Wars 
and the Sam Russell Post of the American Legion in Wills Point; he 
also faithfully attended the annual reunions of the Lost Battalion 
and the U.S.S. Houston Association until three years ago, when poor 
health prevented him from continuing; and
	WHEREAS, Mr. Harris was married to Alta Vae Harris, who 
passed away in 1978; he later married Helen Harris, who survives 
him; and
	WHEREAS, Through his love of country, courageous fortitude, 
and generosity of spirit, Mr. Harris earned the deep respect and 
lasting gratitude of every American, and it is a privilege to honor 
the memory of this admirable son of the Lone Star State; now, 
therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 79th Texas 
Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby pay special tribute to the 
life of Dewitt Dodson Harris and extend sincere sympathy to the 
members of his family: to his wife, Helen Harris; to his children, 
Danny Harris and Stefani Curtis; to his stepchildren, Dave Lewis 
and Anna Green; to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren; to 
his brothers, Burnard Harris and James Harris; and to his other 
relatives and friends; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be 
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of 
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Dewitt 
Dodson Harris.