- Date Of Birth: August 13, 1925
- Date Of Death: June 10, 2017
- State: Florida
Colonel Harry Polk Ball, US Army, Retired
Harry Polk Ball, 91, Col. US Army (Ret) passed away on June 10, 2017. He had been a resident of Indian River Colony Club, Melbourne, Fl for 26 years and is survived by his wife of 65 years, Helen, two sons Robert and wife Molly of Orkney Springs, VA and James Ball and wife Alyce of Waltham, MA and five grandchildren Brian and wife Tracy, David and wife Juli, Michael and wife Meghan, Kathleen and Emily and four great-grand children. He was born in Cheyenne, WY August 13, 1925, but spent most of his young life in San Antonio, TX. After graduating from Punaho School in Hawaii, he attended New Mexico Military Institute and The United States Military Academy graduating in the Class of 1947.
Harry Ball was born on August 13th, 1925, in Cheyenne, WY. He grew up in San Antonio, TX, and attended New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM, graduating in 1943. He entered the United States Military Academy in the summer of 1944 and graduated in the class of 1947 when he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. The following year he was a student officer at the Ground General School at Ft Riley, KS, and then attended the Basic Officers course at the Infantry School, Ft. Benning, GA.
Harry returned to the United States in March of 1953 and was assigned to Ft Benning to attend the Infantry Officers Advance Class. Upon completion of this school in April 1954, he was assigned to the Office of the Infantry Center G-4. In the summer of 1955, Harry located in Canyon, TX, after a three-year ROTC tour, he was selected to attend the Army command and Staff College at F Leavenworth, KS. He was also promoted to major at that time.
Following his CGSC graduation in 1959, Harry was sent to Oberammergau, Germany, to serve as an instructor in the NATO Special Weapons School.
Harry was then assigned to the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) where he served as Executive Officer to the J-1. Following that one-year tour, he returned to the States to attend the naval War College at Newport, RI, where he also earned a Master of Science degree in International Relations and received his promotion to Colonel. After his graduation from the Naval War College, he moved to the Pentagon where he was assigned to the Management Directorate, Office of the Comptroller. During this tour, he also served on a Special Review Panel studying reorganization of the Army in the Continental US.
Harry’s final tour of duty was with the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, PA, where he served on the faculty for three years. During his third year at Carlisle, Harry was head of the Department of Military Strategy, Planning, and Operations.
Harry and Helen have two sons, two granddaughters, and three grandsons. The divide their time between Bryce Resort in Virginia and at the Indian River Colony club in Florida.
