Daniel Webster "Dan" Durrett
T/5 in Signal Co, Special : HQ
Military occupational specialty: 405 (clerk-typist)
ASN#34330870
Born 1911 in TX, Died 1978
County of residence at enlistment: Blount County, AL
Other residence(s): Mount High, AL; Chillicothe, OH
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: architects
Dan Durrett was born in Hamlin, Texas on December 13, 1911, the second of five sons. It appears that his family may have been in Texas temporarily, since his parents and all of his siblings were born in Alabama. His father died in 1937, and his widowed mother continued to manage the family farm in Mount High, Blount County, Alabama with her three older sons, including Dan, as "unpaid family workers" according to the 1940 census.
Dan registered for the draft on October 16, 1940, listing his profession as farming. The 1940 census says that he had a 6th grade education. When he enlisted, on May 20 1942, he stated that he had two years of high school, and was working as an architect.
NOTE: This is likely either a transcription error or a record of him working as a carpenter for an architect. I don't think the "artist" box on the roster should be checked.
He married Carol Marie Creel on December 20, 1942.
He served in the Army until October 8, 1945. His gravestone says his highest rank was Tec5. His brother Tom also served in the Navy from 1942-1945.
After the war he appears to have returned to Alabama, but during the mid-1950s, he and Carol were living in Chillicothe, Ohio and he was working as a carpenter.
He died on November 26, 1978 in Warrior, Alabama, and was buried at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery in Corner, Alabama.
Sources:
1911 birth record
1940 census record
1940 draft card
1942 enlistment record
1942 marriage record
1955 city directory, Chillicothe, Ohio
1978 Social Security death record
1978 Find a Grave record
1978 VA death record