MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A West Tennessee Sailor killed in the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on the USS Oklahoma in Pearl Harbor is returning home after more than eight decades.
Dyersburg native Chief Water Tender Claude White will be buried with full military honors at 2 p.m. on April 19, 2022, at Bell’s Chapel Cemetery in Dyer, Tennessee.
Born Jan. 2, 1901, White was a Fireman 3rd Class when he enlisted in Nashville in Sept. 1920. Over the years he earned several promotions before reaching the rank of Chief Water Tender.
According to the Navy, “A watertender is a crewman aboard a steam-powered ship who is responsible for taking charge of the boiler room - the fires and boilers in the ship's engine room. Maintains and operates boiler room equipment including pumps, condensers, etc. Performs repairs on boiler room equipment and also supervises firemen. The rating existed from 1884 to 1948. Watertenders held a paygrade equivalent to today's petty officer first class. The Chief Watertender (CWT) paygrade was established in 1903. The watertender and boilermaker ratings were merged into a new "boilerman" rating in 1948, which merged into "machinist's mate" in 1996.”
White earned several distinctions during his services, including:
- Purple Heart Medal
- Combat Action Ribbon
- Good Conduct Medal (with 3 Stars)
- American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet Clasp)
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with Bronze Star)
- American Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Pistol Sharpshooter
Before the 2015 disinterment of the USS Oklahoma, which marked the beginning of Project Oklahoma, 388 service members were unaccounted for. Since then, 355 have been individually identified.
Read more about the USS Oklahoma and its service HERE.
