Biloxi Sun Herald, Mississippi
Jan 19 2008
Park will honor two heroes: Rosa Parks and WWII soldier Harold A.
Bezazian
By KAT BERGERON
[email protected]
GULFPORT –The mystery of World War II hero Harold A. Bezazian is
solved in time for Martin Luther King Day celebrations that include
the dedication of a Rosa Parks bench. Bezazian’s name is on two
8-foot pillars at 30th Street Park, where the bench will be unveiled
Monday.
Bezazian is not black, but a half-century ago his father created the
park and two others in less-privileged areas, because he understood
discrimination firsthand. With time, the neighborhood forgot the
meaning of the Bezazian name, and the odd pillars now stand alone,
without fencing.
Bezazian, a first lieutenant, died in March 1945 rescuing his 6th
Infantry Division men behind enemy lines in Luzon. The Chicago native
who’d received a Bronze Star for bravery died in enemy fire, but his
rescue strategy worked.
Identical bronze plaques on the pillars simply state his name, birth
and death dates and declare, "In honor of a hero."
Kristal Daniel, who organized the 1 p.m. MLK Day event at the park,
saw the pillars but knew no more than what the plaques told her. As a
member of AmeriCorps’ Gulf Coast Conservation Corps, she felt the
sparsely furnished park needed a bench.
"We thought dedicating a bench to Rosa Parks for her refusal to give
up a seat and what that meant to the civil rights movement would add
meaning to the King observance," said Daniels. "Now, we’ll also
mention Bezazian."
The Sun Herald contacted Bezazian’s family in Chicago to learn why
the lieutenant’s father, John Bezazian, built parks for
underprivileged and minority Gulfport children. The story begins in
1895 when the father immigrated from Armenia.
"Because of his swarthy skin, poor English and accent, my grandfather
had a very difficult time his first years in America," said Paulette
Bezazian.
He overcame immigrant obstacles and gained wealth from real estate
and selling rugs. He had three children.
Harold, the youngest, who was born in 1911, went to good schools
(Oberlin College and Columbia University) and pursued a short
story-writing career. He was awarded a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship
for Europe, suitable for a man remembered by his family as a free
spirit who loved children and didn’t care much about material things.
The South Mississippi connection enters when he worked on his
father’s 520-acre tung oil farm, as an experience to make him a
better writer. His father bought the farm near Gulfport as an
investment in a subtropical region favored as a winter escape for
Chicago’s rich.
Unmarried and in his early 30s, Bezazian enlisted after Pearl Harbor.
After his war death, the father financed philanthropic projects in
his son’s memory, including the Harold A. Bezazian Branch of the
Chicago Public Library and the three Gulfport parks.
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