Born in Washington, D.C., the son of Ella Fulmore and William C. Harllee, a United States Marine Corps general officer,[2] Harllee attended Western High School.[2] He then attended the United States Naval Academy and Naval War College, graduating from both.[1][2]
Harllee was a lieutenant in Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese attack on the base.[1] He was subsequently the chief staff officer of a torpedo boat group in the southwest Pacific consisting of 200 boats and 10,000 personnel, including Lt. John F. Kennedy.[1] The group was honored with the Presidential Unit Citation for Outstanding Combat Performance in 1943 to 1944.[1] He personally received the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit with the combat "V" device.[1][2]
After World War II, Harllee was part of the Navy's Congressional liaison team, and was assigned to Representative John F. Kennedy from 1947 to 1948.[1][2]
During the Korean War Harllee returned to active duty as the executive office of the cruiser Manchester, receiving the Commendation Medal.[1][2] He retired from the Navy in 1959.[1][2]
After retiring, Harllee served as the chairperson of Citizens for Kennedy and Johnson in northern California in 1960.[1][2] After Kennedy was elected, he appointed Harllee to the Federal Maritime Commission,[1] of which he became president in 1963.[1] He was re-appointed to the commission by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and retired in 1969.[2] After retiring, he traveled as a maritime consultant and wrote articles for professional journals. He was the author of three books: The Marine from Manatee: A Tradition of Rifle Marksmanship (1984), Terror and Triumph: The Saga of Frank Carden (1990) and From Ships Destroyed to Ships Enjoyed: One Man's Experiences at Sea From Pearl Harbor to the Captain's Table (1997).[1][4]
Harllee died in February 2005 of pneumonia at the Maplewood Park Place retirement community in Bethesda, Maryland, at the age of 91.[1][2][4]
