Harry Humason

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Harry Humason was born on 24 December 1925 and grew up in Alhambra, California. He volunteered for the US Army in December 1943 and served with the 2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, part of General George S. Patton’s Third Army. Armed with a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), he fought in the final campaign against Nazi Germany, helping capture Frankfurt before advancing towards Czechoslovakia.

In May 1945, Humason’s unit entered southwestern Bohemia and reached the Teplá Vltava River near Soumarský Bridge, in the Šumava mountains. German troops held fortified positions across the river, including former Czechoslovak defensive bunkers. Humason remembered expecting a costly crossing, but the approaching German surrender brought the operation to a halt. His unit instead established a roadblock and collected German soldiers surrendering to the Americans.

After returning to the United States, he prepared for possible deployment against Japan. The war ended before that deployment took place. He later studied mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and pursued a civilian career developing missiles and rockets for the US Navy.

Historian Jiri Kluc, founder of Witnesses of War, organized Humason’s battlefield returns to the Czech Republic in 2025 and again in 2026. His first visit brought him back after eighty years, allowing him to revisit the places where his wartime service had ended and participate in Plzeň’s Liberation Festival, where crowds welcomed him with gratitude.

During his second return, Humason attended commemorations and public discussions, sharing his memories with Czech audiences. His message focused on the human cost of war and the need to prevent future conflicts—delivered in the country he had helped liberate as a nineteen-year-old soldier.