Corporal Harper was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. When en route from Korea to Japan, he was stricken with Typhus Fever and died in a hospital in Tokyo on 21 January 1951.

Harper was awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.