US Navy Beach Jumpers Assoc.

John William Harris Sr. (Jack), 94, U S NAVY Retired, of Crawfordville, Florida, completed his last mission and went home to heaven on December 28, 2020, to join family members, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam shipmates and aircrews. Born in Quebec, Canada in 1926, his family immigrated to the United States and settled in New York. In 1943, at 17, he attended recruit training at NTC in Newport, Rhode Island where moved on to Beach Jumper School at Amphibious Training Base in Norfolk, Virginia. After training he entered into the US Navy and immediately reported to the Naval Station in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for duty with the Naval Special Warfare Unit as a Beach Jumper in Unit 11 under the command of former Hollywood actor, Lt. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In 1945, Jack was assigned to USS Joseph M. Alman where he joined the ranks as Electricians Mate Thirds Class; and in 1946, he decided to change his rating from General Service to Aviation where his true passion thrived. Following this conversion, he served Atkron 85 and Patron 18 (VP-18) at NAS in Jacksonville, FL for a while before moving on to Helicopter Utility Squadron 2 (HU2) as NAS in Lakehurst, New Jersey. After serving a tour of shore duty at NAS Glynco Georgia, his next duty assignment was with Patron 56 (VP-56) where he advanced to Aviation Electricians Mate First Class (E-6) and to Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 2 at the Naval Station in Rota, Spain. Jack reported to Naval Missile in July 1969 for aircraft maintenance where he contributed significantly to the overall effectiveness of the Aircraft Maintenance Department. On April 2, 1971, he was stationed in Pt. Mugu, California transferring to Aviation Electrician Mate First Class (E6) until July 1971 when he left his active duty status in the service to our great country. During his time of faithful service, He received the following medals: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, China Service Medal, Navy Occupational Medal (second award), WWII Victory Medal, National Defense Medal with Star, Good Conduct Award Four Stars, Vietnam Campaign Medal and four Navy Citations from Developing test equipment for helicopter rotors, to Rescue Missions, to Fire and Flood evacuations and assistance. To say we lost a great and dedicated service man would be an understatement. He is survived by his wife of 72 years, Ann; children, John Harris Jr. (Susan), Linda Boland (Dale), Kathy Harris; 12 grandchildren, Beth, Kurt, Jenna, Corrie, Lori, Amy, Whitney, Britney, Jennifer, Christina, Stephanie, and Timmy; and 18 great-grandchildren. Celebration of Life services will be 1:00 p.m. January 10, 2021, at Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Home 700 Timberlane Road, Tallahassee, FL 32308.

AE1 John Harris, USN Ret. 1943-71 BJU-11 1943-45 d. 12-29-2020 “Fair winds and following seas”

U.S. Navy Beach Jumpers Association (727) 4-USNBJA