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William Kelley Harrison
WILLIAM KELLY HARRISON (1870 ~ 1928). Medal of
Honor Recipient William Kelly Harrison was born
on July 30, 1870, in
Waco, Texas. On May 23, 1885, he received
an appointment to the United States Naval
Academy. After completing four years of
coursework and serving for more than a year on
three different ships, he graduated on June 30,
1891.
Harrison served on three ships in the Pacific
before being transferred to the U.S.S.
Vesuvius in the Atlantic on January 12,
1897. He then transferred to the U.S.S.
Vicksburg on September 12, 1898, and was
promoted to Lieutenant on March 3, 1899.
Harrison was stationed on the U.S.S. Buffalo in
the Pacific shortly before being sent to the
U.S.S.
Indiana (the
United States' first battleship) on June
24, 1899, in the Atlantic. He was stationed on
one more ship in the Atlantic before returning
to the Pacific Fleet in January of 1900.
Lieutenant Harrison became an instructor on the
U.S.S.
Indiana, now a training ship, before
being sent to the South Atlantic Station to
become Fleet Gunnery Officer in 1903. After
returning to the North Atlantic in 1904, he
served on the U.S.S. Newark for its annual
target practice and was stationed with the
Bureau of Navigation. In 1905, Harrison became
Assistant to the Inspector of Target Practice of
the North Atlantic Fleet.
On July 1, 1905, Harrison was promoted to
Lieutenant Commander. He received instruction in
navigation from the Bureau of Equipment's
Compass Office, and served as Navigator for the
U.S.S.
Minnesota, part of the Great White Fleet,
during its 1907-1909 circumnavigation of the
globe. Harrison
was promoted to Commander on January 14, 1911,
and on November 7, 1912, was given command of
the U.S.S.
San Francisco.
The U.S.S.
San Francisco was one of 41 ships sent to
Vera Cruz in 1914 as part of the
United States' involvement in the
Mexican Revolution. On the morning of
April 21, bombardment of the port city began,
followed by the landing of U.S. troops by 11:30
a.m., which prompted the Mexican soldiers
stationed there to retreat.
Besides small
pockets of resistance throughout the city, the
main opposition to U.S. forces was the cadets of
the Naval Academy, who had taken it upon
themselves to fight off the invasion. The U.S.S.
Prairie began bombarding the Naval Academy on
the afternoon of the 21st. On the morning of the
22nd, the continuing bombardment was carried out
by the U.S.S.
San Francisco and the U.S.S. Chester. By
April 24, all fighting around the city of Vera
Cruz stopped.
Harrison and Commander William Moffett of the
U.S.S. Chester both received the Congressional
Medal of Honor for their actions on April 21st
and 22nd, having taken their ships into the
inner harbor of Vera Cruz at night without the
benefit of navigation lights to begin
bombardment the morning of the attack. However,
on Commander Harrison's citation, it is listed
that he was in command of the U.S.S. Chester,
not the U.S.S.
San Francisco.
After Vera Cruz, Harrison served with the Bureau
of Navigation and attended the Naval War College
before he was admitted to a hospital in October
of 1915 and spending most of 1916 on sick leave.
He served on Courts Martial in
Guam,
San Diego, and
San Francisco until his retirement from
the Navy on May 22, 1919.
Harrison died in
San Diego, California, on August 15,
1928, and is buried at
Arlington National Cemetery.
Bibliography: "Above and Beyond: The Medal of
Honor in Texas.: Capitol Visitors Center, State
Preservation Board of
Texas; Handbook of Texas Online, Texas
State Historical Association,
University of Texas,
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles;
Official U.S. Military Records, National
Personnel Records Center, National Archives and
Records Administration; "William Kelly
Harrison."
Arlington National Cemetery,
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wkharrison.htm.
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