"Harvey
was born in Wisconsin on the 14th of November 1897. He was appointed to
the United States Military Academy from Wisconsin. As a “turnback” to
our Class, he was helpful in our relations with 1919. He was a popular,
cheerful and active cadet for our two years, leading the bugle corps, a
member of the cadet orchestra and adding much to the entertainment
programs of cadet camp and Hundredth Night. He excelled in basketball
and on the undefeated hockey team.
His traits of friendliness,
sociability and generosity, displayed as a cadet, continued in his later
service, as exemplified in an incident related by Colonel Harold T.
Turnbull of our Class, as follows: “In 1934 I was lucky enough to be a
guest aboard a submarine, leaving Manila for ports-of-call near Saigon
and the China coast. Harvey heard of a visiting American submarine and
came aboard. We were both surprised to meet thus in a faraway Chinese
port. True to his gracious nature, he took me to see the points of
interest. We visited his barracks, had dinner and wound up in a swank
nightclub.”
Harvey managed to graduate high enough in the
Class to rate Cavalry. In 1925, he qualified for transfer to the Air
Service as a pursuit pilot. As a flight instructor, he trained many
young pilots in fighter operations. While stationed at Chanute Field, he
became friendly with Major Claire Chenault, an older World War I
fighter plane pilot. In 1931, he resigned from the Army Air Service, and
for two years took a position with the North American Aviation Company.
About this time he married Olga Sewers in California. In 1933 they
traveled to China as members of the Jouett Mission to the Nationalist
Chinese Government headed by Chang-Kai-Shek. They remained in China
until 1936, assembling and testing planes delivered from American plane
manufacturers. Harvey then returned to the United States and was active
in design, production and sales of planes.
Harvey and Olga
returned to China in 1938 where, at Henyant, Harvey instructed Chinese
student pilots and assisted South China in opposing the Japanese
invasion by testing new and repaired aircraft and organizing defensive
techniques. Olga was Chenault’s secretary. In 1939 the United States
stopped shipment of planes through East China ports, and so Harvey and
Olga went to Hanoi, Hong Kong, Chunking, Bangkok, Singapore, Rangoon and
then to Java for a time of recuperation. On 25 August 1941 they flew
back to Chungking where Harvey served for a year as Colonel Chenault’s
Chief of Staff of the American Vounteer Group (Tigers).
This
was a year of aggression by Japanese forces on land, sea and air. In
June 1942 the American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) was absorbed by
the United States Air Corps as the 23d Pursuit Group and the 14th and
10th Air Forces. Actually, only fifteen ground crew and five pilots
accepted transfer from the Flying Tigers, while eighty refused induction
and returned to the United States through Bombay. Harvey and Olga
returned to the United States as the year 1941-42 had taken its toll and
induction meant remaining in China. General Chenault remained in China
with Chang-Kai-Shek until the end of the war in 1945. Nationalist China
awarded him their highest decorations and he returned later to organize
“CAT” airlines. Harvey then continued in aircraft production with
Grumman Aircraft. He then went into the moving picture industry until
1950.
Then the old wonderlust took hold and he went to Baja,
California, and around Mexico in prospecting for gold. He went broke in
this actiivty and moved to Compestela for the rest of his life. Olga had
left him in 1945 and they were divorced. In 1945 Harvey testified
before a Truman investigation. The resulting political implications left
him with such bitter feelings that he never wanted to return to the
United States and had no further military connections. In 1960 Harvey
became disabled as a result of the dengue fever of the Orient and lived
on a small Veterans Administration pension and an Aid and Assistance
grant.
Harvey was happy to live and die in Compestela, Mexico, where he made many friends who remember him with affection and respect."--West Point Association.