Frederick Courtney Harris Jr. was born on 15. Jun. 1915 at Jamaica, Queens County, New York. He was the son of
Frederick Courtney Harris and
Catherine Marion Pickhardt. Frederick Courtney Harris Jr. married
Ethel Mae Donaldson, daughter of
Edwin Adam Donaldson and
Ethel Winifred Shields, on 21. Jan. 1940 at Harrison, Westchester County, New York. Frederick Courtney Harris Jr. died on 1. Jun. 1944 at Fort Knox, Hardin County, Kentucky, at age 28. He was buried on 6. Jun. 1944 at Flushing Cemetery, Flushing, Queens County, New York. His formal education included graduation from the Jamaica Model School [elementary] in 1928, graduating from St. Paul™s Preparatory School in Garden City, New York in 1933, and he studied at Columbia University in New York City for two years. After one year with the Federal Housing Administration in New York, he was employed with the Brevoort Savings Bank of Brooklyn in their real estate department for four years. During this time he married and took up residence in Kew Gardens, New York. In 1941 he changed his career path and joined the H. J. Heinz Company in the hotel and restaurant division. In 1943 he returned to the banking business with the Dollar Savings Bank, Bronx, New York. Shortly afterwards he was called to military service as World War II was well underway. In October 1943 he entered the U. S. Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he attained the rank of Corporal and was assigned to the permanent cadre at the Armored Replacement Training Center. He was killed at Fort Knox in a training exercise explosion. A posthumous Solider™s Medal was presented his widow and young son by the War Department at ceremonies conducted at the 1st Army Headquarters, Governors Island, New York. The citation quoted, in part, the following account of his death:
"Harris saw flames, realized the danger to the men nearby, and without regard of his personal safety, rushed toward the nitrostarch explosives in an attempt to extinguish the fire."The explosion that followed resulted in his death and also killed seven other soldiers. His military burial took place on inDle Day.