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Pfc Harlett B. Sutherland enlisted in Cincinnati, Ohio on 8 October 1942.

He was awarded the Silver Star Medal. The citation cited:
For gallantry in action while serving with the 35th Infantry Division, in action near ****, France, on 8 December 1944. Company C, *** Infantry Regiment, was engaged in clearing the enemy from ****, when it was discovered that an officer was wounded and lay exposed to enemy fire. Private First Class Sutherland and two comrades, all riflemen, volunteered to attempt the evacuation of the officer, but in endeavoring to reach his position while crossing open ground, were subjected to intense direct fire from well-entrenched enemy soldiers operating a machine gun augmented by small arms. Realizing that the destruction of the enemy emplacement was a condition precedent to the evacuation of the wounded officer, Pfc Sutherland, assisted by his comrades, coordinated their rifle fire and movement, attacked and destroyed the enemy emplacement and killed or captured the enemy personnel, thereby neutralizing an enemy position that hampered the occupation of ****. Pfc Sutherland and his comrades then moved forward to the position of the wounded officer but found him dead. In returning to his company, he and his companions came upon a wounded man and removed him to the aid station. The gallant actions of Pfc Sutherland are such as to be in accord with the military traditions of the United States.