World War II Honoree

Harman Paul Bigler

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Troutville, Virginia

Honored By

Nancy B. Matolak

Relationship

Daughter

He was called to Active Duty and ordered to report to the 99th Field Artillery Battalion (Pack) at Fort Hoyle, Maryland in May 1941. He served with the 99th Field Artillery Battalion as a Battery Officer, Assistant Battery Executive Officer, Assistant Battalion Adjutant and Battery Executive Officer at Ft. Hoyle, Maryland; Camp Ritchie, Maryland; Ft. Bragg, North Carolina; Camp Carson, Colorado and Camp Hale, Colorado. He was promoted to First Lieutenant on 23 June 1943 and attended the Battery Officers Course at the Field Artillery School, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. He was transferred to the 604th Field Artillery Battalion (Pack) and appointed Battery Commander of Battery B in January 1943. On 16 January 1943, he was promoted to Captain. He was ordered to report to the Los Angeles Port of Embarkation for overseas duty in June 1943 and was relieved of command of the battery. He embarked on a voyage across the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, via New Zealand and Australia to India in July 1943, arriving in Karachi in September 1943. He crossed India by rail and flew over the 'Hump' into China, arriving in Kunming in October 1943. He was assigned to Y Forces (later the Chinese Combat Command) and was stationed on the Salween front in Southeastern China and served with American forces training Chinese troops as artillery advisor to a Chinese division. In February 1944, he attended a course conducted by the 14th Air Force for liaison officers and in March 1944 he was placed on detached service with the G-2 section of the 14th Air Force. He was sent to Enshih in central China, the headquarters of Chinese 6th War Area, to coordinate air ground operations. He served as an intelligence officer collecting information for the 14th Air Force. In August 1944, he was sent to Hsian in northwest China, the headquarters of the 1st and 10th Chinese War Areas. In November 1944, he returned to the headquarters of the 14th Air Force for briefing and to make preparations to travel to a location behind the Japanese lines to the headquarters of 5th Division of the Communist New 4th Army, north of Hankow in central China. He and his team arrived at the headquarters on 26 December 1944. Six Chinese teams were trained and equipped and sent out to monitor Japanese movements on the Peking-Hankow railway, the Yangtze river and the Hankow airport. These teams reported back to their headquarters and relevant information was radioed back to 14th Air Force. He and his team, a radio operator and code clerk, also surveyed the area and attempted to find a location for an air strip. A significant portion of the intelligence received by the 14th Air Force was transmitted by his team during his service in Hsian and with the Communist 5th Division. In May 1945, he was relieved of duty with the Chinese Combat Command and from detached service with the 14th Air Force and assigned to the Office of Strategic Service. In June 1945, he and his team departed from the area. In July 1945, they arrived in Kunming and were debriefed by the 14th Air Force and the Office of Strategic Services. In July 1944, he was relieved from assignment with Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, Office of Strategic Service, China Theater and assigned to the Headquarters, Office of Strategic Service, Washington, D.C. On 25 July 1945, he left the China Theater and arrived in Washington in August 1945. In October 1945, he went on terminal leave and his service on active duty in the Army ended on 22 January 1946. He received the American Defense Service Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Service Medal with 2 bronze stars and the WWII Victory Medal.