Richard Haralson served in the U.S. Army Air Forces as a Captain in the 772nd Bomb Squadron, 463rd Bomb Group Heavy, 15th Army Air Force during World War II. On June 9, 1944, the B-17 Flying Fortress on which he Navigator was damaged by enemy anti-aircraft fire after bombing Munich and was seen to crash in the Adriatic Sea. He was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Purple Heart. He is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, Florence, Italy.