First Lieutenant Harris was a member of the 626th Air Control and Tactical Warning Squadron, 531nd Air Control and Tactical Warning Group stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. On 31 August 1951, he was the co-pilot of a C-47A Skytrain Transport on an administrative flight from Platinum Air Strip, Alaska, to Haknek Air Force Base, Alaska, when bad weather caused the aircraft to crash on a hill on High Island. All four servicemen on board were killed.

Harris was awarded the National Defense Service Medal.