Pvt. Harry C. Blake

According to his draft registration card, Harry Charles Blake was born July 26, 1898 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Little is known about his childhood, his parents or if he had any brothers or sisters. I was also unable to find anything about his education although the 1940 US Census recorded that he completed four years of high school. By 1940 he had moved to 21 Lansing St. in Utica, NY. He was 41 years old by that time.

When he registered for the draft (no date stamp on draft registration card) he was 5'-5" tall, weighed 150 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. He was living at 12 Genesee Utica, NY at that time. His contact was a Major McKeown who was also living at 12 Genessee St. which was a Salvation Army Center. Major McKeown was in charge of the Salvation Army Center.

Harry is drafted on October 24, 1942 through Utica, NY with service number 32578513. Three months later, in January 1943 he died of a blood clot (Thrombosis) at the Lowry Field Hospital near Denver, Colorado. He name appeared in a Rocky Mountain News newspaper on January 24, 1943, pg. 28 as having died and and being at the Nash-Miller Mortuary.

Author's Note: Very little exists in the record on Pvt. Harry Charles Blake. A draft registration card, an enlistment record at the National Archives and an entry in a newspaper about his death is all I could find.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

Death notices, Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado, January 28, 1943, pg. 27.

Funeral Notices, Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado, January 24, 1943, pg. 28.

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 05342; Reel: 198

Year: 1940; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02860; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 67-9B

Supporting Documents