Harry Kaplan flew as an aerial radio operator/gunner in the first airlift ever over the Himalayan Mountains during WWII from 1944 - 1945. He arrived in India in September 1944, and was attached to the 1332nd Army Air Force Base Unit of the Air Transport Command in the Assam Valley in Northeastern India. His unit flew the unarmed C-46 aircraft, providing supplies (mainly high octane fuel, ammunition, arms and bombs) to the American and Chinese forces in China. This was accomplished in spite of the loss of over five hundred U.S. aircraft and 1,300 crewmen. These losses were mainly due to the most violent and treacherous flying weather in the world. Enemy attacks were probable and expected. The significance of the China Burma India Theater cannot be underestimated. Over one million Japanese soldiers, who would have otherwise been fighting in the Pacific war, were kept engaged by the conflict in China.
------Harry Kaplan flew ninety-three missions (186 flights) and over six hundred-fifty combat
hours "Over the Hump." For his heroic achievements, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster. Other awards and decorations he received include the Air Medal, with Oak Leaf Cluster, China War Memorial Medal and Wings, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with 3 Battle Stars and the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation.