The year 1945 was a banner year in the chronicles of world history. In early January, U.S. troops crossed the Siegfried Line into Belgium. On January 20, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated President for an unprecedented 4th term. U.S. Filipino forces recaptured the Bataan Peninsula and invaded the Island of Corregidor. A few days later, 30,000 Marines landed on the island of Iwo Jima. In March, President FDR addressed a joint session of Congress. Vice President Harry Truman became President of the United States upon the death of FDR on April 12.
May 8 was saluted as V-E Day, when Germany’s unconditional surrender was accepted by the Allies. On August 6, an atomic bomb named ‘Little Boy’ was dropped on Hiroshima and on August 9th another atomic bomb named ‘Fat Man’ was delivered over Nagasaki. August 14th was designated as V-J Day as a result of the unconditional surrender of Japan. On September 2, 1945 WWII officially ended. For a brief period, the world was at peace.
Servicemen and women, discharges in hand, returned home to get married, start families and begin careers. Some were entering college on the GI Bill while others were taking vocational courses in auto mechanics, plumbing and other trades. Some of the returning GI’s took flying lessons in Piper Cubs and Aeronca Champions at local and regional airports.
Woodrum Field located in the Roanoke area of Southwest Virginia was busy during WWII where military cadets took primary flight training. Woodrum was also a refueling stop for military aircraft. As airplanes replaced some passenger rail travel, the mission of airports switched from military and private use to personal and business travel. Passenger jet planes were replacing propeller aircraft, seating in each plane was increasing and airports were lengthening runways, adding passenger gates, opening dining facilities and building expensive baggage and freight handling equipment.
The sweeping changes in travel habits were changing and in order to keep pace economically and operationally, Woodrum Field had to undergo extensive upgrades. Following the resignation of the airport’s first manager, R.J. Dunahoe, City Council cast about for a highly qualified replacement. The position of airport manager was offered and accepted by a man who had attended Jefferson High School, was a graduate of Roanoke College, had a commercial pilot’s license and was a certified flight and ground school instructor. His name was Marshall L. Harris, Jr., born May 4, 1910, married to Elizabeth F. on June 22, 1935 and the father of a son, Thomas. The appointment took effect January 16, 1945, a year of awesome shift from a wartime economy to peacetime development worldwide.
Marshall became interested in flying as he hung around Cook Field, a primitive take-off and landing strip in Salem complete with ruts and patches of rogue grass. As a student, Marshall took his first flight from Cook Field with Lanier Turner who later became a senior pilot with Pan American World Airways. Intrigued by the magic of flight, Harris took lessons from W. Clayton Lemon, himself a Hall-of Fame aviator. During college, he and several other students bought an inexpensive glider that became airborne when towed by a car; those flights extended only a few hundred feet.
Retiring on May 3, 1974 the Harris legacy included the addition of longer surfaced runways and the dedication of the new terminal in 1953. Passenger traffic increased 10-fold from 100 per day to more than 1,000 during his tenure. Commercial flight departures increased from just one to 52 daily.
Marshall died on June 11, 1978 at age 68. His wife Elizabeth who outlived her husband by 20 years, and sons Tom, Marshall and Jim survived to cherish his auspicious memory.
In his recommendation for the nomination of Marshall L. Harris, Jr. to the Virginia Aviation Hall-of-Fame, Robert C. Brammer II, a former employee said, “Legacies are not developed by the accumulation of wealth or possessions but rather by our treatment of our fellow human beings. Mr. Harris excelled in his treatment of people.”
On Saturday, November 15, 2014, Marshall L. Harris, Jr. was inducted into The Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame in Richmond, a recognition well deserved. Some people pursue greatness for themselves. Others pursue perfection for a cause. Marshall L. Harris, Jr. achieved excellence for all.
– Dick Baynton
