[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 193 (Thursday, December 6, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7353-S7354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING DURELL WADE

  Mrs. HYDE-SMITH. Mr. President, 77 years after being killed in the 
attack on Pearl Harbor, AD2 Durell Wade of Calhoun County, MS, will be 
laid to rest in the North Mississippi Veteran's Memorial Cemetery.
  On December 7, 1941, 429 men lost their lives aboard the U.S.S. 
Oklahoma, including Aviation Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Wade.
  He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1936 and was in line to be promoted 
to chief aviation machinist mate shortly before his death. His service 
in the U.S. Navy helped in the ultimate fight to protect our liberty.
  The U.S. Department of Defense and its Defense POW/MIA Accounting

[[Page S7354]]

Agency deserve commendation for its work to identify casualties, like 
Durell Wade, and offer some measure of closure to families of fallen 
servicemembers.
  In this instance, I am pleased that Wade's family, including his 99-
year-old sister Nancy, have an opportunity to be part of a burial 
ceremony with full military honors in Kilmichael, MS.
  So many families in Mississippi lost loved ones during World War II, 
but Durell's long absence made this family's sacrifice all the more 
heartbreaking.
  I hope the families of those who perished on the U.S.S. Oklahoma will 
find comfort and peace in knowing their loved one's service in defense 
of our Nation helped in the ultimate fight to protect our liberty.
  I ask unanimous consent that an August 18, 2018, article from The 
Baton Rouge Advocate titled, ``Pearl Harbor casualty's remains getting 
a proper funeral ends lifetime of wondering for Baton Rouge family 
members,'' be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                           [August 18, 2018]

Pearl Harbor Casualty's Remains Getting a Proper Funeral Ends Lifetime 
              of Wondering for Baton Rouge Family Members

                           (By George Morris)

       Seventy-seven years after he was killed, sailor Durell Wade 
     will finally get a proper burial. For his Baton Rouge nephew, 
     it ends a lifetime of wondering.
       ``I knew that I had his name, and I knew that he died at 
     Pearl Harbor,'' said Dr. Larry Wade, 75, whose middle name is 
     Durell. ``I'd think about him a lot but never explored and 
     tried to know more about him. He was just Uncle Durell who 
     had been killed at Pearl.''
       This spring, Wade's family learned that the Defense POW/MIA 
     Accounting Agency has identified their relative's remains, as 
     well as others of his shipmates who died in the attack that 
     launched the United States into World War II. Naturally, the 
     family is grateful.
       ``Because his body wasn't recovered when his immediate 
     family was still alive, they didn't have that resolution,'' 
     said Lauren McAdams, Larry Wade's daughter. ``Obviously, we 
     know now it was a time of a lot of distress because there was 
     the confusion of had he survived or had he not.''
       Durell Wade, who was born in rural Calhoun County, 
     Mississippi, in 1917, was an aviation machinist mate aboard 
     the USS Oklahoma. He had enlisted in the Navy in 1936 and re-
     enlisted four years later.
       Larry Wade's research on his uncle revealed him to be a 
     cheerful person who loved to joke and laugh. Late in her 
     life, Durell Wade's oldest sister, Orena, said he ``loved his 
     life aboard the USS Oklahoma (and) bragged that it could not 
     be sunk.''
       Wade, who was not married, had written home on Sept. 27, 
     1941, pleased to report that he had passed tests to be 
     promoted to chief aviation machinist mate.
       ``In one of his letters, he mentioned his fiance had broken 
     up with him,'' Larry Wade said. ``He last saw her when he was 
     an aviation machinist's mate third class, and he wanted to 
     propose to her but he knew he could not support her on the 
     kind of income he had then. Right after that, she sent him a 
     `Dear John' letter and she married another guy. He mentions 
     that in one of his letters.''
       On Dec. 7, 1941, five torpedoes from enemy aircraft struck 
     the battleship, which capsized in less than 12 minutes, 
     trapping hundreds of sailors in their battle stations below 
     deck. The attack killed 429 men on the Oklahoma.
       Those who perished inside the overturned ship remained 
     there for more than a year before the ship could be righted. 
     Remains that were recovered were hastily buried, said Chuck 
     Pritchard, public affairs director for the Defense POW/MIA 
     Accounting Agency.
       After the war ended in 1945, remains were disinterred to 
     identify them using forensic methods available at the time. 
     Thirty-five were identified, and the rest buried again.
       In 2015, remains from the Oklahoma were disinterred for DNA 
     testing. Family members, including Larry Wade, were contacted 
     to provide DNA samples.
       So far, 146 remains from the Oklahoma have been identified. 
     It's a tiny fraction of the roughly 72,000 unaccounted-for 
     military losses from World War II, but it's meaningful to 
     each family, Pritchard said.
       Larry Wade, Lauren McAdams and her husband, Brendan 
     McAdams, met with Navy representatives on Aug. 2 at the 
     American Legion Nicholson Post 38 hall, where they received 
     an inch-thick notebook that included details of how the DPAA 
     identified his remains. The notebook also had copies of 
     letters between the Navy and family members that revealed 
     something living family members never knew--that the family 
     erroneously had been told that Durell Wade had survived 
     before authorities confirmed his death.
       ``That stirred the family up quite a lot,'' Larry Wade 
     said.
       The Navy will pay to have Durell Wade's remains returned 
     and buried, and the funeral is set for Dec. 7--the 77th 
     anniversary of his death--at North Mississippi Veterans' 
     Memorial Park in Kilmichael, Mississippi.
       ``I have his name and my grandson has his name, but still, 
     Uncle Durell was just an idea from Pearl Harbor,'' Larry Wade 
     said. ``I've learned a lot about him (by) reading and talking 
     to family members. He's come much more alive as a person.''

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