Harry Richard Pool

Submitted by: Christopher Anglim {grandson}

Harry Richard Pool born around 1894. Harry Pool served in World War 1 with the United States Army. The enlistment was in 1917 and the service was completed in 1919.

Story of Service

 

After his graduation from East High School In Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1911, Harry attended the University of Minnesota for baccalaureate studies. While at the "U of M", Harry became interested in Law and later attended University of Minnesota Law School. Harry's law school career was interrupted, however, by his service in the US Army during World War I.

He was hospitalized at City Hospital at the time of his registration, with diphtheria. He was a US Army field clerk and held no rank in the U.S. Army.

He left New York on July 17, 1917 and arrived back in New York on July 17, 1919. He served under General Pershing at the AEF headquarters in Paris France and under another general in Tours France beginning in January 7, 1918. He also visited Belgium and saw cities such as Brussels. He earned the Purple Heart and other decorations which are listed in a memorandum.

After being in Minneapolis for brief time, Harry came to Washington, DC and graduated with a law degree (LLB) from Georgetown in Washington, DC in 1921, and was admitted to the bar in the same year. He also earned a Masters in Health Administration from Columbia University, New York City.

In 1920, he was a clerk at the US Department of Commerce and lived at 1839 Corcoran NW in Washington DC and in 1922, he still served as a clerk at the US Department of Commerce and lived at 1718 Corcoran NW in Washington. He later returned to Minneapolis, serving as a claims examiner for the US Veteran’s Bureau (later the Veterans Administration) in 1922 and returned to the Pool family home at 2531 Jackson. The US Veterans Bureau existed between 1921 and 1930, and was one of the predecessor agencies to the Veterans Administration, which was created in 1930.

During the 1920s, Harry served as an assistant with Colonel John Henry Fraine. He worked as a claims manager for the US veterans hospital in Minneapolis, and was still living at 2531 Jackson in 1927, the year he married Hemelia Ackland, of Albert Lea, MN. Hemelia Ackland had worked as nurse for the St. Paul Hospital from ca. 1922 through 1924. The Pools moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where Harry continued to work as an attorney for the Veterans Administration. They lived at 643-21st, Apt. 3, in Des Moines.