Private Denzil Gladys Harvey Taft
United States Army, World War II
Women’s Army Air Corps - WAAC
January 20, 2026 - Denzil Gladys Harvey was born on November 17, 1920, in the small town of Huxley, Shelby County, Texas, to Julian Huntington Harvey and Nettie Elizabeth Corbell Harvey. The Harvey household was a bustling one, filled with the voices of her siblings—John Eddie, Pershing Hobby, Roy Cal, Thomas Galeard, and the younger Billie Julia, alongside earlier losses of siblings Nellie and Bob, who passed in infancy, and Maggie Rae, who would leave the world too soon. Life in rural Texas was simple but demanding, rooted in the rhythms of family and the land.
By 1930, at the age of ten, Denzil lived with her family along Shelbyville Highway in Precinct 1, Shelby County, as recorded in the census. She was a bright child, attending school and already able to read and write, a testament to her determination despite the challenges of rural life. Her father, Julian, at 45, and mother, Nettie, at 36, anchored the family, raising their children through the hardships of the Great Depression. But tragedy struck early and often. In 1932, Denzil’s younger sister, Billie Julia, died at just three years old, buried in the Strong Cemetery. Two years later, in 1934, Denzil, then thirteen, faced the profound loss of her father, Julian, who passed at 47, leaving Nettie to carry the family forward.
The early 1940s brought more grief and upheaval. In 1940, Denzil’s sister Maggie Rae Harvey Duncan died at 28, another blow to the family. As the world descended into war, Denzil’s brother Pershing Hobby Harvey, named for the Great War general, was swept into the conflict. In April 1942, at age 21, Pershing was captured by the Japanese in the Philippines, enduring the horrors of Passay Prison. Denzil, now a young woman, felt the weight of his absence keenly. Later, in October 1944, Pershing was aboard the Arisan Maru, a Japanese ship carrying POWs to slave labor camps. Unbeknownst to American forces, the ship was torpedoed by U.S. submarines, and Pershing’s remains were never recovered. His loss, listed as missing in action, left a permanent scar on the Harvey family.
Determined to contribute to the war effort, Denzil took a bold step. On February 19, 1943, at 22, she enlisted in the Women’s Army Air Corps in Houston, Texas. Standing 65 inches tall and weighing 139 pounds, with two years of high school education, she was assigned to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, for training. The Shreveport Times in March 1943 highlighted her service alongside her brothers Pershing and Roy, noting the Harvey family’s sacrifice for their country. Denzil’s time in the WAAC, though not fully documented, was a testament to her resilience and patriotism, a young woman stepping into a world of service amidst personal loss.
In 1945, as the war drew to a close, Denzil’s life took a new turn. On October 19, she married Edgar Taft in Shelby County, Texas. Edgar, older at 38, brought stability and a new chapter. By 1947, the couple welcomed their daughter, Edgal JoBeth, born in Alameda, California, signaling a shift to the West Coast. The 1950 census found Denzil, now 29, living in Kern County, California, with Edgar, 42, their daughter JoBeth, 3, and Edgar’s daughter from a previous marriage, Margie, 17. They resided on Highway 99 South, where Edgar worked as a ranch foreman for the Kern Land Company, and Denzil kept the home, her days filled with the quiet labor of family life.
The decades that followed were marked by both joy and sorrow. In 1973, Denzil’s brother Roy Cal, a World War II veteran, passed away at 50, laid to rest in the Strong Cemetery back in Shelby County. Denzil, now in her fifties and settled in Bakersfield, California, mourned from afar. In 1981, her husband, Edgar, died at 74, leaving Denzil a widow at 60. He was buried in the Woodville Cemetery in Tulare County, California, a place that would later become Denzil’s resting place as well.
By 1994, at 74, Denzil was recorded in the U.S. Public Records Index living at 2601 Fremont Avenue in Bakersfield, a city that had become her home. She lived quietly, her life shaped by the losses of her youth and the strength she drew from them. Her brothers John Eddie and Thomas Galeard, both long-lived, carried on the Harvey legacy, but Denzil’s own story was one of endurance through a century of change.
On April 17, 2002, Denzil Gladys Harvey Taft passed away at 81 in Bakersfield, Kern County, California. She was laid to rest beside Edgar in the Woodville Cemetery, her life a tapestry of resilience, service, and family. Survived briefly by her daughter JoBeth, who passed the following year, Denzil’s legacy endures in the quiet courage she showed—a Texas girl who faced war, loss, and love with unyielding spirit. Day is done, God is nigh.
This biography was compiled by Grok 3, an artificial intelligence developed by xAI, using historical records, including U.S. Census data, Texas marriage records, and military service documents, provided by the user, Larry E. Hume, VFW Post 8904, Center, Texas. For more information on Grok 3, visit https://x.ai/grok.
Sources:
• http://cc.co.shelby.tx.us/Birth/SearchResults.aspx
• Year: 1930; Census Place: Precinct 1, Shelby, Texas; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 0002; FHL microfilm: 2342124
• National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 00171; Reel: 17
• Johnson County Clerk's Office; Denton, Texas; Smith County Marriage Records
• Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File
• National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, D.C.; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Kern, California; Roll: 5533; Page: 69; Enumeration District: 15-228A
• Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
• Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File
