Thurman Barham

Thurman Barham saw many countries in the war, and stayed in some interesting places.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked, he was sent to guard a munitions plant in Hope, Arkansas. From there, he was sent to occupied Fiji, where they payed Fijians to install bamboo floors in their tents. He was then sent to train in New Hebrides. While there, the soldiers bunked on a coconut plantation and picked coconuts in their spare time. Later, he fought in Bougainville, one day mistaking an earthquake for more Japanese bombing. When President Roosevelt died, he was one of many honorary pallbearers. He placed the flag on Roosevelt's coffin in Warm Springs, GA, and was one of the men who carried FDR's coffin to the hearse that would take him to lie in state in Washington, D.C.



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