[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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