Johnnie D Harris, Known as "Bucky" to his family and later would be Bucky as a 321st Bomb Group, 445th Bomb Squad, Combat B-25 Mitchell "airplane mechanic" that served his country in WWII in North Africa, Italy and Corsica. Johnnie resided in Jackson County, Oregon and enlisted at Portland, Oregon on 13 Dec.1941. He was born in 1923, had completed 2 years of high school and was still single at enlistment. As a Pvt. he was aptitude tested and sent to CAMP FORREST for basic Training and it was an Infantry Triining Center… however, he was then assigned to the Army Air Corp Technical School of " Casey Jones School of Aeronautics" Newark, NJ and graduated as CPL Johnnie "Bucky" Harris on 1 June, 1942. (there will likely be another Tech School here before shipment to the MTO)

According to his family, Johnnie's nickname was Bucky. It is said that he got the nickname of Bucky from being the smallest of his 3 brothers. Being from the Rouge River Valley in Southern Oregon, you either worked in the Orchards for money or worked on the many farms bucking hay! He could buck hay faster and more efficiently than the others. The Army needed tough and hardy men and obviously Bucky was that and more… he was also quite intelligent (learning Airplane mechanics at one of the very best schools!) and also quite artistic… he drew a beautiful Christmas Card and sent it home, it is one of the finest made. V-Mail paper was available and then censored and photographed to reduce the size by 2/3 rds… because the sheer volume of mail that crossed the Atlantic was monumental. Most mail traveled on Liberty Ships… easily taking 3 weeks or longer to cross in either direction. Bucky's beautifully detailed card is in the Gallery above.

Bucky did not come home from the war, he was killed on a Courier Flight with Lt Thomas Couch, in a B-25 that had crash landed at a friendly base, had been put back together and reassigned to Transport and Courier Service. Lt Couch and Bucky Harris delivered their important personnel at a 12th AF Base, 50 miles South of Florence. Likely they ate something while the B-25 was being fueled up and were on their way home to the HQ Base on Corsica. They were never given the appropriate weather because it was not available and ran into a storm on the way through Italy. It will never be known what happened… a problem with the B-25? A lightning strike? An air-pocket that dropped the B-25 100 ft.? They were seen to fall straight out of the clouds and crash in a rugged and remote part of the Italian mountains.

"Bucky" DNB in the B-25 #43-4026 J on 6 Dec.1944, in ITALY, in the MTO during WWII.