Joseph Lee Harley was born on the 7th of December, 1895, in Ludington, Mason, Michigan to F. Percy Harley and Julia Ette [Hovey] Harley. The family moved to Port Angeles in 1905, where grandpa Harley grew up. In W.W.I Joseph served in the army with the APO (Postal Service) in France. Near the end of the war he sustained a non-combat related injury, and was caught in the deadly pandemic flu which swept Europe, America and parts of Asia in 1918. After months in the hospital in France, he came home on a hospital ship. Before returning to Fort Lewis for demobilization, he was given leave to visit his grandmother, Anne (Lee) Harley and the Harley farm in Ludington, Michigan. When W.W.II began grandpa enlisted in the Coast Guard. He was given a Chief Petty Officer rating, and his initial job was to help set up a Fleet Post Office (FPO) system for District 13 Coast Guard service. Once District 13 FPO was operational, he asked to have sea duty. Assigned to the Corvette, USS Muskogee, he was stationed in Oakland, CA while the ship was completing construction. During this time, grandma and dad's younger brother, David went to Merced, CA to stay with Aunt Sibyl so that grandma could be with grandpa when possible.
When the Muskogee went on combat duty the first port of call was, amazingly, Laura, Australia. They were on patrol to New Guinea, New Caledonia, and the southern islands; then they participated in the Coral Sea battle and worked their way up through the campaign of the Philippines. By the time they were fully conditioned to the tropics they were given orders to go to the Aleutians. From the home port of Adak, Alaska, they were one of the ships on the Kamchatlea run, patrolling the outer length of the Aleutian Islands. While stationed at Adak, grandpa received news of my father's death, and he was immediately transferred to the Coast Guard Station at Port Angeles, later receiving his discharge there.
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