Ray

Thank you Ken, I am a friend of Harry's of more than twenty years. I got to know Harry pretty well after he and his wife Flo moved to Cisco, about two and a-half hours from where I live in Dallas. Harry has been a guest in my home, and I have been a guest in his. I also would see Harry at the three shows here on the mainland that he and I attended regularly during most of that period. I feel very fortunate at having gotten to know Harry, in addition to having the benefit of the valuable information in the books he translated and the quarterly publication he authored. You are in Kaneohe I see. I lived there for three years when I was a kid. Part of that time Harry and Flo interestingly also lived in Kaneohe. During the early sixties my dad was a marine pilot, and commanded the Red Devil Squadron of F-8 Crusader jets there. I have had the privilege of getting back a number of times. It is a beautiful place. Flo remembered their time in Hawaii very fondly when I spoke with her yesterday at Harry's service. Harry had many family members at the service from as far away as Oregon and Missouri. It was a very nice service.

A Few More Words in Remembrance of Harry Watson Harry was placed in an orphanage with two of his three brothers at an early age due to his mother's serious illness. His father, a railroad worker, abandoned his family after his wife developed cancer. Harry's oldest brother was cared for by relatives. Many of us have heard the stories of how severely Harry was treated at the orphanage, leading him to run away. He was placed into foster care and into reform school, what we now call juvenile detention, due to his intransigence. This was a young man who wasn't given much growing up beyond the bare necessities of life. In 1952, at the age of 17, during the height of the Korean War and weighing a wirey 113 pounds, Harry secured his mother's permission to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. Harry received training in electronics and radio repair, and served in Korea. His time in Korea, and completing two tours of duty in Hawaii where two of his three daughters were born, offered important exposure to Asian cultures. Harry also served in Vietnam. Harry had a son who died at age 22 in a mysterious shooting that was ruled accidental. Due to his intellectual ability Harry was selected by the Marine Corps to receive intensive training in the Japanese language at a State Department school. That fortuitous experience is what eventually led Harry to provide the great services he did for the benefit of all of us who have an interest in Japanese swords. Our distinguished friend Professor Arnold F made a very important observation about Harry in speaking with me last week. Arnold of course has an extensive library, including many works in the English language related to Japanese swords, extending back into the 19th century. Arnold stated that he believes Harry Watson was the first researcher publishing in the English language to utilize the extensive and specialized Japanese vocabulary that had been developed to describe every aspect of the sword. That critical addition, of very detailed vocabulary, allowed students of this art throughout the world to describe, discuss and better understand what they were observing. That critical addition allowed for a very important advance in knowledge for non-Japanese students of this art all over the world. As had been the case throughout his life, Harry worked very hard to complete this work and profited only little. Yet, according to Harry's wife Flo, this translation work related to Japanese swords was Harry's proudest achievement. My Japanese American engineer friend Tom H, who left Japan after college, described to me last week how amazed he was with Harry upon getting to know him. Harry could sing in Japanese the martial songs dating back to Japan's struggles with China and Russia more than a century ago. Harry could also sing Japanese folk songs, some of which even native born Tom had never heard. There was no one at any Japanese sword show friendlier than Harry. Until the emergence of the remarkable scholar Markus Sesko, there was no non-Japanese person who could offer any comparable knowledge base to that Harry was able to offer. As Harry entered into his late seventies he still dutifully appeared at sword shows, but his attention had been drawn to a new challenge, that of playing the Chinese erhu, a two stringed violin. With his characteristic determination, Harry was able to meet this late challenge and master the instrument. We are all one of a kind. The good Lord gave some of us more to start with, and some of us less. There are few among us interested in the Japanese sword who have done as much of benefit for the rest as Harry. As far as I am aware there is not one among us who has started with so little and offered so much. At the service celebrating Harry's life that took place yesterday in Cisco, Texas Harry's wife Flo had arranged some items that were meaningful to Harry. One of his volumes of Nihon To Koza was on the table that I failed to include in the corner of this picture. There was a wonderful portrait of Harry. I have never seen a broader smile on the face of any marine in such a portrait. He was the kind of man we could use a lot more of. Harry was a man who was grateful for what he had, and happy to share with others all he had learned. God bless Harry Watson.