Enlisted in the Army Air Corps in December 1941. Inducted into service April 1942 and started boot camp in June 1942. Started Primary training in October 1942 at Minter Airfield in Bakersfield, Ca. Due to fog, finished flight training at Deming New Mexico in December. Graduated at William's Field, Arizona March 10, 1943 as part of Class 43-C.

After leave time, Harold (Ole) was transitioned through Salt Lake City hoping to get aboard B-25's until orders sent him to Davis-Monthan Airfield in Tucson, Arizona where he started his flight transition training into the B-24, starting on 22 March. He was assigned to the 382nd Bombardment Group (H) at this time and the 537th Squadron. In April, he was transferred to the 39th Bomb Group (H), 60th Squadron during the remainder of transition training.

In the later part of May, 1943 Harold was transferred into the 449th Bomb Group (H), 716th Squadron. He was the first assigned pilot to a squadron in the newly forming group. As the story goes, a soon to be crew member walked across the field to look at their new pilot. Upon his return to the rest of the crew, he informed them that "I don't know if he can fly it, but he is big enough to horse it around for us." The fledging Group departed for Pinecastle Airfield in Florida for Submarine duty and the School of Applied Tactics. They spent 45 days there and headed for the "GOO" as it was to become known as.

Alamogordo, New Mexico was the destination. Here the group received more crews, ground echelons, administrative staff and Harold met someone very special to him and his future family.

In mid September, the Group was transferred to Bruning Army Airfield in Thayer County, Nebraska to complete the training for movement overseas. It was during this time that all aircrews received their own aircraft and records indicate that number 42-64462 was received by Harold on October 22nd. The Group received movement orders to Topeka Airfield on the 30th of November. It was here that all aircraft went through final inspections, and name applications, before the flight overseas. They departed for the unknown on December 4th of 1943. The trip to Grottaglie Italy took them 17 days. They flew with a total of 14 Group members on their plane and flew from Morrison field in Florida, down to Belize, over to Georgetown Guiana, Natal Brazil, over the big pond to Marrakech Algeria, up to Tunisia and then into Italy on the 21st.

Harold flew 51 credited combat missions, yes the last was a double credit, and went to places nobody knew of then. He went to Ploesti, Rumania 7 times and while on the June 24th mission received his Distinguished Flying Cross for bringing crew and ship home with two engines out. He was lead group on five of these missions and wing lead on one. He was on the 4-4-44 mission to Bucharest when the group went it alone and destroyed target and the enemy air force in one blow. Harold's last combat mission was on July 2nd on a flight to Budapest, so his flight records indicate. There are a few short time flights after that.

Harold almost always flew with the squadron commander on board. He would take care of the flying and the CO would take credit for the flight hours, or most of them. He said "I flew all the bomb runs because the CO was hunched down so far dodging flak he could not have flown a B-24!" He was lead pilot on 26 missions and led the 47th Wing 10 times as listed in his flight records of February 5, 1952.

Harold's was the first Mickey equipped B-24 in Italy. As he tells it "he showed up for a mission one morning and all the brass in the area was there including General Nathan Twining, 15th Air Force Commanding General. He was briefed on the unit that morning and was not told previously in case he would have been shot down prior to the Mickey unit development." His first thought was looking at the MIT student/professor, who manned the unit on the first three missions while training, and thought he'd be about 30 gallons of gas short because he looked like he weighed about 178 pounds.

The 449th Bomb Group (H), 716th, 717th, 718th and 719th Squadrons received a Presidential Unit Citation while bombing through the overcast using the Mickey unit. Still had plenty of flak but not as concentrated as normal because the German's could no longer send tracking aircraft to supply the air defense the heading or speed of the formation. P-51s changed that by shooting them down.

Harold returned to the Zone of the Interior in August of 1944, married Doris Rosalie Myers on September 8th and went on to being a flight instructor in B-24s until September 1, 1945 and the war's final end. His last official flight logged in the B-24 in Air Corp Service was on this date -- . 4 hours and 6 landings.

Harold went into Active Reserve service in July of 1947. He and the family traveled the world from Morocco to Guam, Labrador to Illinois. During these travels he was rated as Senior Pilot in October of 1952. He was promoted to Major in June of 1952 and Lieu tent Colonel in 1960. He was a Detachment Commander while stationed at Guam, Mountain Home and Gosse Bay Labrador Air Force Bases. Harold has flown the following aircraft types during his career: BT-13, BT-15, AT-9,AT-17, AT-6, Link Trainer, B-24D, E, G, H, J, B-25, C-46, C-47, C-54, B-17F, B-29, B-26, C-124, C-119, C-45, B-47E (9/57), C-123, KC-97, T-33, C-97, SH-19, SA-16, L-20.

He has flown single-, twin- and four-engine aircraft of varying sizes and missions. He has flown twin- and six-engine jets and has time in rotary aircraft as well. His last Military flight was on March 9, 1962 flying an SA-16 out of Goosebay Labrador.

Harold has a total of 4620.25 flight hours logged in the Military, This does not include the 160 hours prior to his enlistment or the 8 plus after he retired. He flew the Collings Foundation B-24 All American with all of his sons aboard in June of 1995. It kind of ironic that after the war, Harold actually logged as much time in B-25s as he had in B-24s!!!