Navy Badge
  • Name: James Harland MacNeil
  • Location of Birth: Coleraine, Minnesota
  • Date of Birth: April 25, 1914
  • Date of Death: November 20, 1948
  • Parents: James R. MacNeil & Emma (Stuen) MacNeil
  • High School and Class: 1932 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
  • College: 1934 Itasca Junior College, Coleraine, Minnesota
  • Highest Rank: EM1 (Electrician's Mate Petty Officer First Class)
  • Branch: Navy
  • Other Branch:
  • Date Sworn In: May 9, 1942
  • Place Sworn In:
  • Date of Discharge: October 2, 1946
  • Place of Discharge:
  • Military Awards:

  • Military Highlights:
    WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
    State: Minnesota
    Name: James Harland MacNeil
    Race: White
    Age: 26
    Birth Date: April 25, 1914
    Birth Place: Coleraine, Minnesota, USA
    Residence Place: Coleraine, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
    Registration Date: October 16, 1940
    Employer: Pickands Mather Co., Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota
    Weight: 179
    Height: 5-8
    Complexion: Light
    Eye Color: Blue
    Hair Color: Blonde
    Next of Kin: Mrs. Emma MacNeil, mother, Coleraine, Itasca, Minnesota

    Newspaper article: 1944 – “Harland MacNeil, electrician in the U.S. Navy, is now on his second 'stretch' as an enlistee in the Navy. He completed two years in service in March and re-enlisted. He has been at sea practically ever since he enlisted, and is now home on leave, visiting his wife and children in Hibbing, and his mother, Mrs. J. R. MacNeil, in Coleraine. MacNeil, electrician’s mate first class, has been ordered to Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill., where he will be in school for three or four months, reporting at the university the first of July."

    Newspaper article: September 1945 – "Mrs. J. R. MacNeil has received word that her two sons, Paul and Harland, are both eligible to be surveyed from the Navy. Harland, who has been on Guam, is on his way home, and Paul is at present in St. Albin’s hospital at Long Island, New York, and will receive his discharge when he is released.”

    James Harland MacNeil served both in the Atlantic and Pacific areas during World War II. When the armistice was signed, he was on a hospital ship at the Island of Guam.

  • Wars Involved:
    World War II

  • MIA / POW:

  • Civilian Life:
    Harland MacNeil completed 2 years at St. Paul Law School before entering service. He married Helen Hansen in Minnesota in 1941. He was a Coleraine businessman and contractor and was also employed as an electrician by the Canisteo Cliffs Mining Co. He was a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of which at Bovey he was a past commander. He was active in church affairs and Boy and Sea Scouting.

    Harland died in Bigfork, Minnesota after sustaining injuries in a vehicle accident. He is buried in Lakeview Cemetery, Coleraine, Minnesota (Block 29, Lot 16). He is survived by his wife, Helen; three daughters, Jean, Linda, and Sandra; his mother, Mrs. James MacNeil; a brother, Paul MacNeil; a sister, Carol Mathews; and an uncle, Ole Stuen.

  • Tribal Affiliation(s):

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