WILLIAM L. HARRIS, JR., LT, USN
William Harris, Jr. '49
Lucky Bag
From the 1949 Lucky Bag:
William L. Harris, Jr.
Juneau, Alaska
Sure it gets cold in Maryland, but no matter how bitter the winds brew on the banks of the Severn, there was always one guy who didn't care about "collars up." Bill's hometown, Juneau, Alaska, never gets cold either, so he said. There was actually a better answer to why this Texas born Alaskan never gets cold—he just never slowed down long enough to feel what's going on around him. There was probably no other member of this class who had more irons in the fire at the Academy than Bill. Most of his non-academic interests, however, were connected in one way or another with his camera, and with it he won the post of the LOG Photo Editor for two years. When not taking pics of some athletic team or Drag of the Week, Bill could be found behind a baritone horn in the Concert Band or gadgettinkering in his room.
William L. Harris, Jr.
Juneau, Alaska
Sure it gets cold in Maryland, but no matter how bitter the winds brew on the banks of the Severn, there was always one guy who didn't care about "collars up." Bill's hometown, Juneau, Alaska, never gets cold either, so he said. There was actually a better answer to why this Texas born Alaskan never gets cold—he just never slowed down long enough to feel what's going on around him. There was probably no other member of this class who had more irons in the fire at the Academy than Bill. Most of his non-academic interests, however, were connected in one way or another with his camera, and with it he won the post of the LOG Photo Editor for two years. When not taking pics of some athletic team or Drag of the Week, Bill could be found behind a baritone horn in the Concert Band or gadgettinkering in his room.
Loss
William was lost on February 2, 1958, when the SNB aircraft he was aboard collided with a civilian airplane and then crashed in northeastern Tennessee. The other officer aboard was also lost; it took several days for the wreckage to be located.
Other Information
"He was attached to the Naval Air Technical Training Center at Memphis, Tennessee. His last duty station before this was at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California… He is survived by his wife, Mary Louise…" (Information from April 1958 issue of Shipmate.)
From researcher Kathy Franz:
Bill graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in 1945. Last Will and Testament: I, Bill Harris, leave my mathematical and scientific ingenuity to Buddy Hunter, as he might as well be a jack-of-all-trades. Class Prophecy: After a brilliant career in the Navy, BILL HARRIS was finally promoted to ensign. Said the future admiral, “They never told me you were supposed to tie a ship to the dock, I thought they just stayed there. But now I know.”
In 1966, Bill married the former Mary Lou Sampson of Bristol, Tennessee.
From the Johnson City Press, February 4, 1958:
The Navy plane, an SNB with Lt. James R. Siler of Pocatello, Idaho, and Lt. William L. Harris of Winslow, Ariz., aboard, disappeared Sunday night on a training flight from Memphis Naval Air Base to Norfolk, Va.
Just before the plane disappeared, its pilot radioed the control tower at Tri-Cities airport that his craft had been damaged in flight. This message was recorded at 10:43 p.m.
The pilot gave his position as about 15 miles east southeast of the airport. He asked for emergency landing instructions.
The 14th Air Force Search and Rescue coordination center at Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, GA., announced that the Navy plane had reported an accident in flight with a civilian plane.
Wing Damaged
The civilian aircraft, also twin-engined, landed at Huntsville, Ala., with only slight damage to a wing tip.Air Force officers at Warner Robins identified the civilian flier as E. L. McCall. They said McCall reported that he saw the Navy craft just in time to take evasive action and managed to get under it.
From The Knoxville Journal, February 15, 1958:
The crash was found on a steep slope on February 14 by an Air Force helicopter. It was on Holston Mountain in the very tip of Upper East Tennessee, about 12 miles north of Elizabethton.
Had the plane been 150 feet higher, it would have cleared the top of the steep, isolated mountain slope. As it was, it nosed into the side of the mountain, clipping off treetops as it dug in.
Twenty-six military and Civil Air Patrol planes, including six helicopters, as well as Civil Air Patrol, Air Force and civilian ground parties, had taken part in the search. The hunt was hampered by several days of fog, snow and rain.
The spot where the charred and wrecked plane lies is only a few feet from the Appalachian Trail which runs along the top of the mountain.
He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His middle name was Luther.
(1949's class history says he died in an air crash in Alabama.)
Korean War Service
From the Aviation Geek Club:
Lieutenant William L. Harris, Jr., on his first combat mission, made a dive-bombing run on a hydroelectric plant north of Hungnam. He didn’t realize he’d been hit until he returned to the ship. Maintenance personnel found fragments of concrete in the cowling and wings, verifying the accuracy of his bomb drops. Harris earned the nickname “Cement Mixer.”
Photographs
From The Bristol Herald Courier on February 4, 1958
William, holding the camera, as a member of the Photo Club. From his high school yearbook.
From his high school yearbook
Memorial Hall Error
William's rank is given as Lieutenant in the Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps of 1957, as well as in the Register of Alumni and the April 1958 issue of Shipmate. Memorial Hall has LTJG.
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