His father, Arthur Van Haren Sr., was a popular boxing judge and baseball umpire who was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame.

Arthur Jr. shared his father's passion for sports, becoming a star quarterback at Phoenix Union High School and later playing for coach Pop McKale at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

However, he was considered to be such a good pilot that the Navy made him a flight instructor, and he spent over a year teaching other naval aviators how to fly.

That year as a flight instructor proved to be invaluable to Van Haren Jr., as he was able to sharpen his flying and air gunnery skills and, at the same time, the U.S. Navy was in the process of moving from the F4F Wildcat to a superior aircraft—the Grumman F6F Hellcat—as a way to better compete against and outclass the Japanese Zero.

Based on the USS Hornet (CV-12), a United States Navy aircraft carrier of the Essex class, Lt. Van Haren Jr. flew the F6F Hellcat.

He downed nine confirmed enemy planes during grueling combat in the Pacific Theater skies, and had three additional unconfirmed kills.

Some of his more notable squadron team members included Roy Voris, Daniel A. Carmichael Jr., and his commander, William A.

[1] A journal kept by Van Haren Jr. sheds light on the routinely dangerous lives of being a fighter-pilot in the Pacific Theater during that time.