Paul Harless was born in Corryton, Tennessee in December 1921. His father worked in various jobs during the Great Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States] including farming and slaughtering cows. Growing up during this time was very difficult. In June 1939, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Navy because he wanted to see the world and felt that the Navy was the best way to do that. He was sent to Norfolk, Virginia for his boot camp training for 13 weeks. He did a lot of marching and some schooling. After completing boot camp training at the Norfolk Navy base, he reported aboard the battleship USS Arkansas (BB-33), which was a pre-World War 2 battleship. He was assigned to the deck force and spent his days scrubbing the deck and peeling potatoes. In May 1940, Harless was transferred off the Arkansas and assigned to the presidential yacht, the USS Potomac (AG-25) in Washington D.C. as a seaman first class. He would spend the next 32 months aboard that ship. His duties included general maintenance of the ship, but also guard duty when the President of the United States was aboard. Although he did not have any direct contact with President Franklin D. Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States], he was around him frequently and considered Roosevelt to be a very friendly person. They had a special routine to get FDR aboard because he did not walk. Once aboard, FDR liked to sit in a certain area of the boat so he could fish. Many guests and dignitaries would come aboard, including Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and the Crown Princess Martha of Norway and her family. Harless recalled a time when they saw a lobster fisherman and FDR asked him if he could buy some lobsters from him. The fisherman told the president that he would be happy to give the last democratic president some lobster at no charge. Duty on the Potomac was very easy and nice.

Paul Harless was assigned to the USS Potomac (AG-25) in Washington D.C. while he served with the Navy. He was visiting a friend at a naval hospital on the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. After 32 months of service on the Potomac, in November 1942, Harless left the Potomac and was sent to Orange, Texas where he became a plank owner aboard the destroyer USS John Rodgers (DD-574). At the time he reported aboard, Harless was a boatswain’s mate second class, so he became the senior deck force man in the 2nd Division. Harless went from being part of a crew of fewer than 50 aboard the Potomac to being in charge of 61 men aboard the John Rodgers. The ship went on shakedown [Annotator's Note: a cruise to evaluate the performance of a naval vessel and its crew] in the Caribbean before being sent to the Pacific for war duty. The accommodations were not very good. Everything was very tight and hot. On a typical day, there were three shifts that the crew rotated throughout the day. His watch and general quarters stations were on one of the John Rodgers’s aft 40mm [Annotator's Note: Bofors 40mm antiaircraft automatic cannon] anti-aircraft gun batteries. Harless went on to take part in every action the USS John Rodgers was involved in. The John Rodgers earned 12 battle stars for her service during World War 2. His first combat experience was at Marcus Island [Annotator’s Note: Minamitorishima, Japan]. His ship operated as a division, and sometimes as a squadron. His ship took part in the invasion of Guam [Annotator’s Note: Guam, Mariana Islands] by supporting the soldiers. When the ship got low on ammunition, they went to an ammunition barge to reload more ammunition.

Paul Harless was assigned to the USS John Rodgers (DD-574) as a boatswain’s mate second class. At Tarawa [Annotator’s Note: Tarawa, Gilbert Islands], Harless saw the bodies of American Marines and Japanese soldiers floating in the surf. While in the Philippines, the John Rodgers picked up 26 downed American airmen. Harless liked picking up downed naval aviators. Not only was he helping to save the life of a fellow American, but for each flier they plucked out of the water and returned to their aircraft carrier they received 15 gallons of ice cream. During his down time, Harless played cards and read. Sometimes they played baseball when they were on an island. [Annotator’s Note: In August 1944,] John Rodgers began heading for Morotai [Annotator’s Note: Morotai, Maluku Islands] to support and screen the landings. After this operation, which provided the only Allied base from which to stage short-range fighters and bombers to the Leyte, the Philippines, the John Rogers patrolled Leyte during the battle until they became low on fuel. After Okinawa had been secured, the USS John Rodgers led its destroyer squadron, DesRon 25, on an anti-shipping sweep into Suruga Bay [Annotator’s Note: Suruga Bay, Japan]. Harless remembers this mission for two things. First, they got to within one and a half miles of the Japanese coastline and two, this was the only mission he took part in during the entire war for which he was issued a side arm. His ship took part in covering the landings at Iwo Jima [Annotator's Note: Battle of Iwo Jima; 19 February to 26 March 1945; Iwo Jima, Japan] and Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. Harless did not find out until later, but two of his brothers invaded the islands.

Paul Harless was assigned to the USS John Rodgers (DD-574) as a boatswain’s mate second class. One of the last operations the USS John Rodgers took part in was the capture of Okinawa [Annotator’s Note: the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg; 1 April to 22 June 1945; Okinawa, Japan]. On 14 May 1945, the John Rodgers was screening a fast carrier group when she was attacked by several Japanese aircraft. The pointer on the 40mm gun Harless commanded was away from his post, so Harless jumped into the seat. He hit the foot pedal which fired the gun and shot down the Japanese plane roughly 100 feet from the stern of the ship. If he had waited another few seconds, the enemy aircraft would have slammed into his ship killing and wounding many of the men on board. Harless said he saw his first kamikaze attacks during combat in the Philippines. Harless heard that the Japanese were very cruel, but he did not hold any animosity towards them. He just did his duty. He only knew one man who abandoned his gun because he was scared, so they moved his battle station underneath the deck. Harless was off the coast of Japan when he heard the news of FDR’s [Annotator's Note: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States] death. He enjoyed listening to Tokyo Rose [Annotator's Note: nickname given by Allied servicemen to any English speaking female radio personality broadcasting Japanese propaganda in the Pacific Theater]. Harless recalled when the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] were dropped.

Paul Harless was assigned to the USS John Rodgers (DD-574) as a boatswain’s mate second class. During his overseas deployment, his ship went through three typhoons and crossed the equator three times. Having enlisted in the Navy in 1939, Harless had enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to go home as soon as the Japanese surrendered. On the day the official surrender document was signed, Harless was on a battleship heading back to the United States. In late September 1945, he was discharged from the Navy in Memphis, Tennessee with the rank of boatswain’s mate first class. In the early 1950s, Harless was recalled to active duty for service during the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953],and was then discharged again after his tour was up. By that time, he had been promoted to the rank of chief boatswain’s mate. While he was overseas during World War 2, he contracted malaria [Annotator's Note: disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans]. He did not have any problems transitioning from Navy man to civilian life. His most memorable experience was the raid at Suruga Bay [Annotator’s Note: Suruga Bay, Japan]. He talks to schools and civic organizations to set the record straight about American history. Harless met his wife on a blind date after he returned from service and loves his family. Harless believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.