USS Harris Reunion, San Francisco, 2006

The USS Harris was converted to a troopship at Todd's Seattle shipyard and was commissioned by the US Navy on August 10, 1940. She initially provided service carrying troops to Pearl Harbor and acting as a troop training ship in San Diego. In 1942, the Harris sailed as the flagship transporting troops for landings in North Africa. She returned to Norfolk, Virginia, and sailed on to the coast of California in late 1942. In December, the USS Harris docked in San Francisco before sailing on to Alaska to take part in the recapture of Attu in the Aleutian Islands. From that time forward through the end of World War II, the USS Harris served as an attack transport in the Pacific Theater of the war. She skillfully disembarked troops for landings at locations including:

• Kiska, Alaska
• Tarawa
• Kwajalein
• Saipan
• Ulithi
• Leyte Gulf, and
• Okinawa, Tokyo Bay

In addition to ports of call in San Diego and Pearl Harbor, the USS Harris made at least four calls to the port of San Francisco in:

• December 1942
• April 1943
• August 1943, and
• April 1945

The men of the USS Harris lived together for four years aboard ship, participating in some of fiercest battles of the Pacific. At the conclusion of the war, these sailors returned to their families, their careers, and homes all across the United States. The war and life on the USS Harris became a memory that could only partially be shared with family members and friends who had never been aboard the Harris. Finally, Reunions began to be held and Shipmates from the USS Harris had the opportunity to gather together to renew friendships and share stories of the events they had experienced.

Now, 51 years following the Harris' last call to the port of San Francisco, the Shipmates and their families again gather together in this great City to share stories and pay respects to the very special US Navy veterans of the USS Harris.