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| Seaman William Durham served on USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7892631/william-teasdale-durham https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68674507/william-teasdale-durham https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor-raid/battleship-row-during-the-pearl-harbor-attack/uss-arizona-during-the-pearl-harbor-attack.html |
William Teasdale Durham never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on April 25, 1919 in Baldwin, North Carolina. His parents Edward and Jennie were also both born in North Carolina. His father worked as a farmer. William had an older brother and sister and a younger brother and sister.
He volunteered for the US Navy on March 5, 1940. In August of that year he was assigned to the light cruiser USS Trenton. One month later he became a seaman first class serving on the battleship USS Arizona.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Seaman Durham was on duty onboard Arizona when it was hit by four Japanese bombs. The final one penetrated to the forward magazine and exploded with devastating loss of life. Seaman Durham's rating would have placed him at a gunnery, steering, or signaling station. He was killed in action during the attack.
Unlike hundreds of other Arizona sailors, Seaman Durham's remains were recovered. He is buried at Lystra Baptist Church Cemetery in Farrington, North Carolina.
Last year on this date I profiled B-24 gunner Raymond Munstermann. You can read about Raymond here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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