I know this is an old post now, I wish I had been here to discuss this...so I will now, in case anyone wants to know, to include the author.
The Californian who answered that Harry and Hairy sound the same to him (and the PA person too) were right that in the majority of American dialects, the vowel sound in both of those words has become [ɛʌ], making both of those words sound like [hɛʌri]. It's a quick diphthong for them.
Now, where I am from- the metro New York area- we pronounce them quite differently. Harry = [hæri] and Hairy = [hɛʌri]. As far as I can tell from my studies, travels, interstate moves, and friends from other areas, the ONLY parts of the the US that recognize the distinction are metro NY and the northern half of New Jersey. Funny, growing up I thought it was normal, but when I went to college in Connecticut and then lived around the South, I got laughed at for making that distinction. Anyway, I like the distinction, and consider it correct, especially since it is distinguished in England to this day.
A second example of a distinction you will only see in metro New York is Mary/marry/merry. Most of the US considers those all to be [mɛʌri] but for me, they are three completely distinct words:
Mary = [mɛʌri]
marry = [mæri]
merry = [mɛri]
A complicated language, to be sure.