Colonel Walter Julius Harbort
Walter J. Harbort was born in Seguin, Texas on March 20th, 1920 , and enlisted in the US Army after graduation from New Braunfels High School in 1939. He attended the 1st Signal Corps Officer Candidate Course at Fort Monmouth, NJ. During World War II, he was the Commanding Officer of the 534th Signal Heavy Construction Company, which participated in the Central Europe and Rhineland Campaigns, and notably, fought during the Battle of the Bulge. He returned to Germany after the war and was assigned as the Commanding Officer of the 1st Signal Company, 1st Infantry Division. Later in his career, he was stationed in Fort Benning, GA and attended the Associate Advanced Infantry Officer's Course, the Basic Airborne Course, the Airborne Jumpmaster's Course, and obtained his B.A. from the University of Georgia. In 1956, he was transferred to Korea for duty as the Division Signal Officer, 24th Infantry Division. He received his M.Ed. from the University of Virginia in 1958. He returned to airborne duty in 1965 with the XVIII Airborne Corps as the Director for Communications Ð Electronics, US Forces in the Dominican Republic, participating in Operation Power Pack during which this helmet was worn. Mr. Harbort's daughter recalls him saying that it was one of his favorite experiences because he got to parachute in. He also served as the XVIII Airborne Corps Signal Officer at Fort Bragg, NC. He attended the National Defence College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario. In 1968, he assumed command of the Defense Communications Agency, Southeast Asia Mainland, located in Vietnam and Thailand. He then returned to Seoul, Korea in 1970 in the dual role of Commanding Officer, US Army STRATCOM Signal Brigade Ð Korea, and the Assistant Chief of Staff, Communications Ð Electronics, Eighth United States Army. He was the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, Communications Ð Electronics, USAEUR and Seventh Army, located in Heidelberg, Germany in the mid 1970's. Upon retirement from active duty, he and his wife settled in Little Silver, NJ. Walter J. Harbort unfortunately passed away on March 6, 2007 in Red Bank, NJ at the age of 86.
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