When he was three, his father was financially unable to retain their farm and moved the family to another small city, Decatur, Georgia.
At the start of World War II, while he was a history student at nearby Emory University, Harlan enlisted in the Navy and, upon receiving his degree (B.A., 1943),[4] entered midshipman's school in 1943.
In the wake of V-E Day, he was assigned to Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands, in anticipation of the planned invasion of Japan.
Over fifty years later, in his 1996 wartime memoir, All at Sea: Coming of Age in World War II, published by University of Illinois Press, he recalled the long-ago conflict and drew historical lessons and parallels for future generations.
Diagnosed with Crohn's Disease, he died in Lexington, Virginia, at the age of 87, and was survived by his wife, Sadie, two sons, Louis and Benjamin, and a grandchild.