James William Durr – Harrodsburg Tanker

James William Durr

Private

Pvt. James William Durr (Harrodsburg Tankers, Survivor, WW II) BIRTH 2 APR 1919 • Mercer County, Kentucky, USA DEATH 25 NOV 1972 • Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA; Find Grave #78921772. Highest Grade Completed; High School, 1st year Occupation; Farm Labor (He was married 4 times)

Jim was promoted to sergeant and returned to the United States on the U.S.S. Hugh Rodman arriving at San Francisco on October 3, 1945. After further medical treatment because of brain damage suffered from beatings while a POW, he was discharged from the Army on April 5, 1946. It is known that Jim moved to Cincinnati and was married four times. He worked for a railroad and fought a battle with alcohol. On one occasion in June 1951 he was arrested for putting a gun to his former wife’s body and pulling the trigger. It turned out there was one bullet in the gun. He was again arrested by the police in April 1952, in a case of mistaken identity. He went on trial as an accomplice in a robbery that took place at a White Castle. He was acquitted of the charge. In 1957, he was found guilty of spousal abuse and sentenced to six months in jail. During this time, he was also awaiting trial on the charge of manslaughter in the fatal beating of his mother while he was drunk. He was found guilty and sentenced to one to 20 years in prison. It is known he resided in Cincinnati after his release until his death on November 25, 1975. He was buried at the Cemetery of Spring Grove in Section 139, Lot G, Space 73, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

James William Durr BIRTH, 2 Apr 1919, Mercer County, Kentucky, USA DEATH, 25 Nov 1972 (aged 53), Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA BURIAL, Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA PLOT, Garden LN, Section 139, Lot G, Space 73 MEMORIAL ID, 78921772(James William Durr) James Durr was a private in D Company, 192nd Tank Battalion. He was stationed in the Philippine Islands when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Ten hours later, he lived through the bombing of Clark Airfield. For four months, he fought, with the other soldiers on Bataan, to slow Japan’s conquest of the Philippines. Without food, without adequate supplies, and no hope of being relieved, he became a Prisoner of War on April 9, 1942, when Bataan was surrendered to the Japanese. As a POW, he was held at Camp O’Donnell and Cabanatuan in the Philippines. He was later transported to Japan and held at Kawasaki POW Camp. He remained in the camp until liberated at the end of the war. Bio by: Jim O

Private James William Durr joined the Harrodsburg National Guard unit sometime before they were federalized in November 1940. He became a Prisoner of War on 9 April 1941 and was on the Death March. He was held at Camp O'Donnell, Cabanatuan #1, and Bilibid Prison. He worked as a laborer in a ship yard in Kawasaki Japan. He died on 25 November 1972.