Captain harry cramer biography
Harry Griffith Cramer, Jr. He came from a long line of "citizen soldiers going all the way back to the French and Indian Wars. His grandfather was a first sergeant of Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War. His father, Harry G. Cramer, Sr. Coach Cramer probably had the greatest influence on Harry's ultimate choice of the Army as his life's ambition.
Cramer was the ultimate all-American G.I. Joe. He was born in Johnstown, PA, on May 1, , into a family that had a long history of military service.
By the tender age of eight, young Harry already commanded armies of lead Civil War soldiers which completely filled the Cramer parlor. Having been a fine high school football player, Harry started out practicing with the Army squad. However, Harry quickly came to the conclusion that he could not stay on the Corps Squad and handle the academic load.
He made the decision to drop from Corps Squad not withstanding the associated advantages that would have made plebe year more bearable. It was a tough decision for Harry, not made easier by pressure from the coaches and upperclassmen, but it showed early on his determination to set his priorities correctly. Harry was blessed with two things that helped make cadet life bearable.
Harry Griffith Cramer, Jr. was born 1 May at Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
One was a real sense of humor that allowed him to take bureaucratic nonsense in stride -- he never let things get him down. The other, which caused him more than a few demerits, was an overriding temptation to test the system right to its limit. This inevitably led to occasionally getting caught just across line.