On January 25, 2018 Tuskegee Airman 'Major' John L. Harrison, Jr. was laid to rest with full Military Honors in Section 71 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA.

John L. Harrison, Jr. was an U.S. Air Force command pilot with 22 years of service. He graduated from the Tuskegee Class 43-K. He had flown prop fighters, sea planes, two engine, four engine and jet fighter planes crossing the Pacific Ocean over 50 times, the Atlantic Ocean 35 times.

John spent five years in the Peace Corps serving in East Africa. Was Deputy Secretary for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during the Thornberg Administration.
He was a Senior Operations Engineer Director, Affirmative Action for Boeing Aircraft Company.

A retired U.S. Air Force major, Harrison served in three wars and was one of the 992 original pilots trained in the nation’s first combat aircraft program for African Americans established at the Tuskegee and Maxwell Fields in Alabama.

Major Harrison was among the Tuskegee Airmen who were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian honors in the United States, in 2007.

Carlo Aragoncillo and Brian Donnelly walk with Joan Harrison, daughter of Tuskegee Airman 'Major' John L. Harrison, Jr.

Major Harrison flew combat missions in Italy and went on to serve in the U.S. armed forces for 24 years. He later became a director with the Peace Corps and a high ranking official in the administrations of President Richard Nixon and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh. Working in the private sector, he was a senior operations engineer at Boeing Co.

The Flag is carefully folded into the shape of a tri-cornered hat, emblematic of the hats worn by colonial soldiers during the war for Independence.

In the folding, the red and white stripes are finally wrapped into the blue, as the light of day vanishes into the darkness of night.

Daughter Joan Harrison was presented the flag of Our Country.

'On behalf of the President of the United States, and a grateful Nation, please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation for your loved one's honorable and faithful service.'

Members of the Philadelphia Chapter of Tuskegee Airman, Inc.