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Harmon Ernest Nason

Name:
Ernest Nason  Harmon
Rank:
Major General
Serial Number:
Unit:
XXII Corps
Date of Death:
1979-11-13
State:
Massachusetts
Cemetery:
Oxbow Cemetery Newbury, Orange County, Vermont,
Plot:
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
Comments:

MG Ernest Harmon was born on in 1894 in Lowell, Mass. He commanded several units during WW2 to include the XXII Coprs of the US Third Army.
FROM MILITARY HALL OF HONOR:
Ernest Nason Harmon Major General, U.S. Army Ernest Nason Harmon was born in Lowell, MA, on 26 February 1894, the son of Ernest Josiah and Junietta Spaulding Harmon. He grew up in West Newbury, VT. He attended Norwich University, the "Birthplace of ROTC," for a year prior to entering the U.S. Military Academy. Following his graduation from West Point in 1917, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Cavalry and assigned to 2nd Cavalry at Fort Ethan Allen, VT, and Camp Devens, MA. He married M. Leona Tuxbury in August 1917.
From March 1918 to June 1919, he served with the American Expeditionary Force in France and upon his return to the U.S. served with the 2nd Cavalry at Fort Riley, KS. He was an instructor of Drawing at the USMA from August 1921 to 1925, and during that assignment Harmon was a participant in the modern Pentathlon at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Harmon served with the 6th Cavalry at Fort Oglethorpe, GA, until 1927 and then had duty as Assistant Professor of Military Science and Tactics and Commandant, Norwich University (Northfield, VT); he received an honorary Master of Science (SM) there in 1931.
In 1934, Harmon was Commander of a Squadron with the 8th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, TX, until August 1935, when he was assigned to the War Department General Staff in Washington, DC, until June 1939. He then served with the 1st Cavalry at Fort Knox, KY, until July 1940 when he went to the I Armored Corps (also at Fort Knox) as Assistant Chief of Staff for Supply. He then moved to Headquarters Armored Force at Fort Knox as Chief of Staff until June 1942.

During World War II, Major General Harmon commanded the 2nd Armored Division from July 1942 until 6 April 1943 as elements of the Division began arriving in Algeria. Upon landing in Algiers, Harmon was delegated by General Dwight D. Eisenhower to travel to the front to report on the deteriorating Allied situation in Tunisia and Algeria, and to assist where needed. His on-site reporting and interventions during the Kasserine Pass battles helped stabilize and reorganize the U.S. Army II Corps, which had been thrown into disorder after the initial German attack.
During the fighting, Harmon had opportunity to observe General Lloyd Fredendall, Commander of the US Army's II Corps, as well as his superior, the British General Kenneth Anderson. Anderson was in overall control of the Allied front in eastern Algeria, commanding British Commonwealth, American, and French forces. Harmon noticed that the two generals rarely saw each other, and failed to properly coordinate and integrate forces under their command. Fredendall was barely on speaking terms with his 1st Armored Division Commander, Orlando Ward, who had repeatedly complained to his superiors of the dangers of separating his division into weaker combat commands for use in various sectors of the front.
Harmon also noticed that Fredendall rarely left his command headquarters, a huge fortified bunker constructed a full 70 miles behind the front lines (the bunker took two hundred Army engineers three weeks to excavate, using hundreds of pounds of explosive to blast rooms out of solid rock). Allied forces were bereft of air support during critical attacks, and were frequently positioned by the senior command in positions where they could not offer mutual support to each other. Subordinates would later recall their utter confusion at being handed conflicting orders, not knowing which general to obey - Anderson or Fredendall. While interviewing field commanders, Harmon received an earful of criticism over what many Allied officers viewed as a cowardly, confused, and out-of-touch command. Noting that Fredendall seemed out-of-touch (and at one point, intoxicated), he requested and received permission to go to the front and intervene where necessary to shore up Allied defenses.
While Harmon attributed the lion's share of the blame for the catastrophe to Fredendall, he also began to question General Anderson's leadership abilities with respect to a large command. Anderson was partly to blame for the weakness of II Corps in the southern area of the front. When Fredendall asked to retire to a defensible line after the initial assault in order to regroup his forces, Anderson rejected the request, allowing German panzer forces to overrun many of the American positions in the south. Anderson also weakened II Corps by parceling out portions of the U.S. 1st Armored Division into various combat commands sent to other sectors over the vehement objections of its commander, General Ward.
MG Harmon had been in Thala on the Algerian border, witnessing the stubborn resistance of the British Nickforce, which held the vital road leading into the Kasserine Pass against the heavy pressure of the German 10th Panzer Division, which was under Rommel's direct command. Commanding the British Nickforce was Brigadier Cameron Nicholson, an effective combat leader who kept his remaining forces steady under relentless German hammering. When the U.S. 9th Infantry Division's attached artillery arrived in Thala after a 4-day, 800-mile march, it seemed like a godsend to Harmon. Inexplicably, the 9th was ordered by Anderson to abandon Thala to the enemy and head for the village of Le Kef, 50 miles away, to defend against an expected German attack. Nicholson pleaded with the American artillery commander, Brigadier General S. Leroy Irwin, to ignore Anderson’s order and stay. Harmon agreed with Nicholson and commanded, "Irwin, you stay right here!" The 9th's artillery did stay, and with its 48 guns raining a whole year's worth of a (peacetime) allotment of shells, stopped the advancing Germans in their tracks. Unable to retreat under the withering fire, the Afrika Corps finally withdrew after dark. With the defeat at Thala, Rommel decided to end his offensive.
After Rommel had finally been halted at Thala, MG Harmon returned to Fredendall's headquarters, and was incredulous to find Fredendall expecting to pick up where he had left off. Harmon's reports on General Fredendall's conduct during and after the battle (in an interview with Patton, Harmon called him a cowardly "son-of-a-bitch") played a key role in the latter's removal from command of II Corps and reassignment to a training command. Offered the command of II Corps in Fredendall's place, Harmon declined, as it would appear to others that Harmon was motivated by personal gain. Instead, General Eisenhower appointed George S. Patton, a colleague and friend of Harmon, to replace Fredendall. He later accepted command of the 1st Armored Division after the relief of General Orlando Ward. Later, he was appointed to lead the U.S. Army's XXII Corps.
In January 1946, MG Harmon took command of VI Corps, which became the U.S. Constabulary. He served as Commanding General of the Third U.S. Army from 10 January 1947 to 14 March 1947 and then served as Deputy Commanding General, Army Ground Forces, from March 1947 until his retirement in March 1948.
Post-Military Life: After his retirement from the Army, Harmon went to Norwich University where he served as its President from 1950 to 1965.
Education: Norwich University, Northfield, VT. (1912-1913); US Military Academy (1913-1917); School of Musketry, Fort Sill, OK. (1917); Cavalry School, Fort Riley, KS. (1920-21); Command & General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, KS. (1931-33); Army War College (1933-34); Field Officer's Course of the Chemical Warfare School, MD (1934); LL.D. Middlebury College (1952); LL.D. St. Michael's (1955); and LL.D. University of Vermont (1966).
Medals, Awards and Badges: Distinguished Service Cross Army Distinguished Service Medal with 3 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters Silver Star with Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster Legion of Merit with 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters Bronze Star Medal Purple Heart Air Medal Army Commendation Ribbon World War I Victory Medal with 3 Campaign Clasps Occupation of Germany World War I Medal American Defense Service Medal American Campaign Medal European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 Bronze Stars World War II Victory Medal Army of Occupation Medal Army Staff Identification Badge
Honors: In 1955, Harmon received an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Saint Michael's College in Colchester, VT.
Death and Burial: Major General Ernest Nason Harmon died at White River Junction, VT, on 13 November 1979. He is buried at Oxbow Cemetery in Newbury, Orange County, VT.