When Harry Clarence Markland was born on February 2, 1923, in Elizabethton, Tennessee, his father, Charles, was 39 and his mother, Bertha, was 34. He had four brothers and three sisters. He enlisted in the Army on February 16, 1943. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a Private First Class in the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He died on March 21, 1945 and is now buried in Highland Cemetery, Elizabethton, Carter County, Tennessee, USA.