Meet “Red,” the First CT Submarine Direct Support Operator

Harris Monroe “Red” Austin was born in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska to James and Louie Austin on November 2, 1920. In August 1939, at the age of 18, Red enlisted in the U.S. Navy and attended a 12 week boot-camp in Norfolk Naval Training Station. Normally boot camp was 16 weeks long, but because of the events in Europe, the Navy reduced boot camp to increase our Navy forces for possible war with Germany.

Following boot camp, Red reported to the USS RUSSELL (DD 414) in Norfolk Naval Base on November 3, 1939, the same day the ship was commissioned for service. While serving on the RUSSELL, Red was assigned to the “radio shack” where he served as a Radioman and became an expert in Morse code and other communication systems and methods. For the next two years, the RUSSELL an East coast ship, was assigned to anti-submarine operations responsible for searching for and tracking German U-boats that were a threat to British supply ships transiting the Atlantic Ocean.