1LT Harry Blackstone Colborn (WWII)

Remembering 1LT Harry Blackstone Colborn (Fairmont)
September 3rd, 1921 - February 5, 1945

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1LT Harry Blackstone Colborn was born September 3rd, 1921 in Fairmont, West Virginia, to Andrew J. and Martha (Hutchinson) Colborn. During the 1930 census, the family was residing at 322 Locust Avenue, and Andrew is listed as a lawyer. Harry was the oldest of 4 living siblings, all born within an 8 year time period. The 1941 Fairmont city directory lists Andrew as living in the same Locust Avenue home but serving as the vice president of the Hutchinson Coal Company, a step up from the 1939 city directory that lists him as the lawyer for the Hutchinson Coal Company. In the same directories, Harry and his younger brother Melville are listed as students.

While attending West Virginia University (WVU), Harry received a B.A. in Political Science (class of 1943) and was a member of the Sphinx men's honorary for seniors, Phi Kappa Psi, and President of the Interfraternity Council. Harry also served in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) during his time at WVU, first depicted his sophomore year in the 1941 WVU Monticola Yearbook as part of Company I, 1st Platoon. 

Along with 195 other WVU R.O.T.C. members, Harry was approved and inducted into the U.S. Army on March 19, 1943, at Fort Hayes in Columbus, Ohio. The 196 students then returned to campus to finish out the second semester before reporting back to Fort Hayes to receive their Army Assignments (1943 Monticola, p 122). At that time, Harry was living at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at 780 Spruce Street in Morgantown, which is still used by Phi Kappa Psi to this day.

Military Service:

Upon graduation and his return to the military, Harry joined the 10th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, Company E. Their regiment went overseas in June of 1944, where they eventually fought in the Battle of the Bulge. An article in the Cumberland Evening News revealed "Lt. Colborn attracted nation-wide attention when he was credited with bagging 235 Germans while fighting with General Patton's Third Army. He held the Bronze and Silver Star decorations for battlefield action" ("Lt. H.B. Blackstone [sic] Killed At Front,"3/19/1945). 

Harry was killed in action on February 5, 1945, in Echternach, Luxembourg (IDPF). Initially buried in the U.S. Military Cemetery in Hamm, Luxembourg, he reached his final resting place at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial in 1949. 

Legacy and Survivors:

For his service in WWII, 1LT Harry Colborn was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and two Purple Hearts.

He is honored on the "Marion County Veterans Killed in Action" Memorial at Veterans Square in Fairmont, WV, and at the  West Virginia Veterans Memorial in Charleston, WV. The West Virginia Army National Guard also named a (no longer used) facility in Fairmont the "1LT Harry B. Colburn U.S. Army Reserve Center."

Harry was survived by his parents and three siblings- Melville, Martha, and Jack. The Law School of West Virginia University's rare book room is named for Harry and Andrew Colborn, established by Harry's brother Melville. Melville also fought in WWII before returning to West Virginia to finish his business degree.

Distinguished Service Cross

The citation for Harry's Distinguished Service Cross, awarded July 31, 1947, reads:

"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to First Lieutenant (Infantry) Harry B. Colburn (ASN: 0-5344287), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company E, 10th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, in action against enemy forces on 8 February 1945, near Weilerbach, Germany. 

On that date, Lieutenant Colburn was leading an assault platoon to spearhead a regimental attack on the Seigfried Line. Under enemy machine-gun and artillery fire which blanketed the area, he successfully held his platoon together as it made a rubber-boat crossing of the swollen Sauer River. Organizing his defense on the other side, he saw enemy machine-gun fire, from a pillbox on his flank, inflict heavy losses on the platoon following his across the river. 

Immediately he determined to neutralize the enemy strong point and was joined by several volunteers for the attack. Running across wide-open terrain in the face of withering machine-gun fire, he and several of the men gained positions near the pillbox. While two men covered him with rifle fire he suddenly rushed the door, forcing the enemy back into an inner room. With a demolition charge, he started through the opening, but as he entered, the hidden enemy again opened fire, mortally wounding him. Lieutenant Colburn, by his fearless charge, enabled the men to surround the pillbox and force its surrender. 

Through his supreme sacrifice, he enabled the other elements of the regiment to cross the river and enlarge the important bridgehead. First Lieutenant Colburn's intrepid actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty at the cost of his life, exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, the 5th Infantry Division, and the United States Army."

Harry's home in Fairmont


The home that the Colborn family resided in from at least 1930-1940, 322 Locust Avenue, is part of Fairmont's Fleming-Watson Historic District.

The application for historical designation says the following about 322 Locust Avenue:

Description: 2-story Queen Anne vernacular residence of wood construction, set on a stone foundation with shiplap siding and a picturesque multiple roof system incorporating an extended gable-roofed wing on the facade with a round-arched pedimental window and a bay window on the first floor; 1-story veranda extends across the facade; decorated brick chimneys

Date: c. 1880

Later in the application, it is referred to as "Sam Nuzum House, 322 Locust Avenue, one of the district's most pretentious homes and the residence of a leading local real estate developer and industrialist." Samuel Nuzum died in 1927, and the house was inhabited by the Colborns by the 1930 census.

The application (and above photo) was dated 2001. Reviewing Google Earth satellite data, it appears that 322 Locust Avenue was torn down between September 2013 and May 2016

Sources and More Information:

Newspaper Articles, In Chronological Order:

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