USS Oklahoma veteran buried with military honors

Ted Furr, Chief Carpenter’s Mate on the USS Oklahoma, died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941.

Furr’s remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii on Wednesday.

According to a press release, as a senior enlisted non-commissioned officer, Furr supervised junior Carpenter’s mates, who used hand and power tools to build and repair all types of wooden construction. Furr also estimated and planned construction, as well as worked with ventilation systems, watertight doors, and served in damage control parties.

Furr was born in Selma, Alabama, lived in Chickasaw, Alabama, and enlisted in the Navy out of Dallas, Texas in April of 1921. Furr was promoted a total of seven times during his military service, finally promoted to Chief Carpenter’s Mate in 1939.

Trained in Great Lakes, IL, Furr served on the USS New York, USS West Virginia, USS Pecos, USS Argonne, USS Holland, Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the USS Oklahoma.

Highly awarded, Furr was a recipient of the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with Bronze Star, World War II Victory Medal, and an American Campaign Medal.