Family Planning Funeral Nearly 77 Years After Loss

CALHOUN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – “He never had the chance to fight. he was below deck when the ship went down.

That’s to me one of the sad parts about it, because he was there to fight. because you don’t join the navy to sit around,” Bob Wade said of his Uncle Durell Wade.

Bob Wade would know about the Navy, because he served too.

He said was inspired by hearing his father tells stories about Durell Wade, the uncle that Bob never met.

“As I understand it they were very close. he was a little younger than my father. Durell was 19, when he went down and my father was probably 23 or 24,” Bob said.

Navy Aviation Machinist Second Class Durell Wade was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was attacked by Japanese aircraft on Pearl Harbor, on December 7th, 1941.

The military said Durell Wade, along with other unidentified crew members, were buried in Hawaii. But that’s until now.

Thanks to new DNA analysis – using samples from bob’s aunt and brother – Durell’s remains were identified, now he’s coming home.

On December 7th 2018, Durell will be re-interred at the end of the first row in the Veteran’s Memorial Cemetary in Kilmichael. And he’ll get the honor he deserves.
The cemetery director said Durell’s marker has been made. The epitaph says “home at last.”

The director said the service in Kilmichael starts at 2PM on December 7th, it will be open to the public.

There will also be a service at the Pryor Funeral Home in Calhoun City. Plans for that are still being finalized.

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