William Harding shot the English match at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. At the time he was a US Army officer. In 1934 Harding graduated from the Army Flying School in San Antonio, Texas. He was assigned to Selfridge Field in Michigan as part of his commission in the Air Corps Reserve. In August 1936 Harding was on a training flight with William Maier. They were in a formation of five planes when their aircraft caught fire. At too low an altitude for parachutes to open, they both jumped from the plane before it crashed, and were killed.