Durant "Bud" Barclay, Jr.

Lilah Crowe2021-03-21T10:39:08-05:00

Name: Durant "Bud" Barclay Jr.
Location of Birth: Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Date of Birth: June 22, 1919
Date of Death: September 24, 2005
Parents: Durant Barclay, Sr. & Gertrude (Steward) Barclay
High School and Class: 1938 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
College: 1940 Itasca Junior College, Coleraine, Minnesota
1942 Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota - with a Political Science major
Highest Rank: T SGT (Technical Sergeant)
Branch: Army
Other Branch:
Date Sworn In:
Place Sworn In:
Date of Discharge: November 29, 1945
Place of Discharge:
Military Awards:

Military Highlights:
WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
State: Minnesota
Name: Durant Barclay, Jr.
Race: White
Age: 21
Birth Date: June 22, 1919
Birth Place: Grand Rapids, Minnesota
Residence Place: Marble, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
Registration Date: October 16, 1940
Employer: Macalester College student
Weight: 155
Height: 6-1
Complexion: Light
Eye Color: Gray
Hair Color: Brown
Next of Kin: Durant Barclay, father, Marble, Itasca, Minnesota, USA

Newspaper article - Nov 1945 - Mr. and Mrs. Durant Barclay of Virginia, formerly of Marble, have received word from their son, T/Sgt. Durant Barclay of the Hq. 72nd Ord. Group that he was sailing from the 11th Replacement Center, Honshu Island, Japan, for the U.S.A. either October 28th or 29th. He hopes to be home with a discharge the latter part of November. Sgt. Barclay went overseas early in December 1943, trained in England six months, participated in the Normandy invasion and all the battles of the European theatre of operations, for which he has five battle stars. During the Battle of the Bulge, the Ordnance outfits evacuated six thousand to seven thousand tons of equipment under fire. Sometimes the boys fought in one end of the depot while battle gear was being removed at the opposite end. Early in June he was sent from Kassel, Germany, to the staging area at Marseilles. During his stay there, he had one week of rest and recreation at Nice on the French Riviera. July 8th they sailed from Marseilles for the Pacific area, across the Atlantic, thru the Panama Canal, to Okinawa, being 57 days on the water. The trip was lengthened by two weeks due to the fact that V-J day was declared while they were in the midst of the Pacific. Consequently they were held up for two weeks off an atoll of the Carolinas awaiting a decision as to whether they would return or proceed. They were sent on to Okinawa where they “sweated it out” until Sept. 28, when they boarded ship for Japan. The voyage which should have taken seven days took ten days as the typhoon caught them. So now, after three weeks at Nagoya Base, Sgt. Barclay is on his way home. He thinks the old adage, “Join the Navy and see the world,” should be changed to “Join the Army and see the world.”

Wars Involved:
World War II

MIA / POW:

Civilian Life:
As a WW II Army veteran, he served in the Normandy Invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Occupation of Japan. After discharge from the Army he attended photography school and moved to Virginia, Minnesota to work as a commercial photographer. He served on the board of directors for the Iron Range Rehabilitation Center for 12 years. He married Orrilla Richardson in 1958. They moved to Duluth, Minnesota in 1967 where he continued work as a commercial graphic arts photographer, retiring from Service Printers Co. in 1985. While in Duluth he participated in the Duluth Ski Club, the Craftsman Club, the Minnesota Canoe Club, the Duluth Stamp Club. After retirement he volunteered for Habitat for Humanity and the Friends of the Library. His file of photographic negatives and prints were donated to the NE MN Historical Society at University of Minnesota Duluth.

Durant Barclay, Jr. died in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin and is buried in Fairview Cemetery, Stillwater, Minnesota. He is survived by sisters, Frances Lerohl and Henrietta Harvey; son, Robert Barclay; daughter-in-law, Tina; granddaughter Stephanie. He was preceded in death by his wife of 46 years and his parents.

Tribal Affiliation(s):