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NAME Dero Henry Harrell, Jr. |
NICKNAME — |
SERVICE NUMBER 287650 |
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| UNIT Marine Detachment USS Houston |
HOME OF RECORD Grandview, TX |
NEXT OF KIN Father, Mr. Dero H. Harrell, Sr. |
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| DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1919 at Grandview, TX |
ENTERED SERVICE July 9, 1940 at Dallas, TX |
DATE OF LOSS March 1, 1942 alt. February 28, 1942 |
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| REGION Java Sea |
CAMPAIGN / AREA Sunda Strait |
CASUALTY TYPE Missing In Action Declared Dead December 15, 1945 |
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| CIRCUMSTANCES OF LOSS PFC Dero H. Harrell, Jr. was a member of the Marine detachment aboard the cruiser USS Houston. He was last seen aboard his ship on 1 March 1942, when she was sunk in the battle of Sunda Strait. Harrell’s body was never found, and he was officially declared dead on 15 December 1945. |
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| INDIVIDUAL DECORATIONS Purple Heart |
LAST KNOWN RANK Private First Class |
STATUS OF REMAINS Lost at sea |
MEMORIALS Grandview Cemetery, Grandview, TX Manila American Cemetery |
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Biography:
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Gallery:
Comment from John Harrell
15 September 2012
Thank you for this posting. This is the only picture I have ever seen of my father’s brother, Dero. He looks very much like my father, Louis J. Harrell. I believe that my dad was deeply affected by the loss of his brother. He rarely spoke of him, except in reference to his having died early in the war. My father also served in the south Pacific, in the Second Marine Division. I understand that Dero Henry Harrell’s name does not appear at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the Punchbowl), and can only surmise that it is because he was initially listed as missing in action. Interestingly, we named our son Henry Harrell without knowing that Henry was the middle name of my paternal grandfather or my father’s brother. One minor note: the reference to Richard Fritzsching in the Date of Loss section appears to be in error. Thank you again for this posting.