WW2 Fallen - DFC hero and P-47 pilot Russell Harris, West Point grad

West Point grad Captain Russell Harris was the deputy flight commander of the 310th Fighter Squadron.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/12230339/russel-price-harris
https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/aircrafts-2-3/p-47-thunderbolt/p-47-jerry-175-42-28508-58th-fg/ 

Russell Price Harris never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.

If you have enjoyed reading the stories of the WW2 fallen, Can you help write some stories? It's a big project. The more help, the better.  Announcing "The Stories Behind the Stars", see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org. This crowd-sourced national project has the goal of compiling stories of all 400,000+ of the US World War 2 fallen in one free-to-access central database.  Anyone visiting a war memorial or gravesite will be able to scan the name of the fallen with a smartphone and his story will appear on the phone.

He was born on March 24, 1920 in Nevada, Missouri. His parents Russell and Dorothy were also both born in Missouri. The family moved to Florida in the 1920s. His father worked as an insurance agent and then as a radio salesman. Still later he was a senior interviewer for the Florida State Employment Agency. Russell had one younger sister. By 1940 Russell was a West Point cadet. A newspaper article mentions his wife Suzanne, but I don't know her maiden name.

Russell graduated early from the US Military Academy in January 1943. He was trained as a P-47 fighter pilot and reached the rank of captain in the 310th Fighter Squadron, 58th Fighter Group. Captain Harris was his squadron's deputy flight commander. Harris was sent to the South Pacific in October 1943. His fighter group operated out of New Guinea. In November 1944 it moved its base to the Philippines.

On January 4, 1945 Captain Harris led planes from his squadron to provide protective cover for a convoy near Mindoro. The relief coverage did not arrive on time so he stayed behind to wait. He helped fight off a Japanese air attack using up even more of his dwindling fuel supply.   On the return to base he ran out of fuel and crashed and died of injuries sustained. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf clusters.

His grave is at Garden of Memories Cemetery in Tampa, Florida. I don't know what happened to his widow. The Tampa Florida VFW Post 4321 was named in his honor.

Thank you Captain Harris for your sacrifice. Let's Earn It for Russell.

Last year on this date I profiled B-17 bombardier William Simpson. You can read about William here.

On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!

I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.

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WW2 Fallen 100 is supported by

The Greatest GENERATIONS Foundation

“Where Every Day is Memorial Day”

http://www.tggf.org