Harold's birth is still murky. The family was always told that he was adopted by his mother, Judith Samuelson, as she never married. In laterlife Harold produced a birth certificate from Los Angeles Co. showing he was, in fact, the child of Judith. However, the certificate lists the father as "Elmer Samuelson of Chicago, Ill, white, age 33, occupation: policeman, and born in Sweden. It's highly suspicious that his name would also be Samuelson. His name may have been listed that way to legitimize Harold's surname. Also, though the birth certificate is neatlytyped in every entry, including the "signature" of the attending physician, the "Full name of the Child" entry is hand written from a supplemental report given on 13 Jan 1942. The certificate may have been done to record the birth, but a name had not been assigned at the time (21 Oct 1919), and then when Harold entered the U.S. Army, sometime during WWII, his name may have been added then.
California death records show Harold's mothers maiden name as Johnson. Her father's surname was Jonsson, but all the children used the surname Samuelson.
