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PFC Russell Durio
Russell John Durio was born in the spring of 1921 at Arnaudville, Louisiana.
He joined the Marines on Oct. 12, 1940, and was a private first class when he was killed on the U.S.S. Arizona in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.
He attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now known as the University of Louisiana Lafayette.
His father, Simon Durio, was a machinist at a garage and later police chief of Sunset, Louisiana, population 630. His mother, Marie Alcidie Durio, was a homemaker. Sunset is nine miles from Arnaudville, whose 1940 population was about 600. His birth appears in some records as March, 21, 1921 and in others as April 3, 1921.
Another man born in Arnaudville also died on the Arizona. Achilles “Archie” Arnaud was born Sept., 30, 1923. In all likelihood, they knew each other.
Sources: Daily World of Opelousas, Louisiana; Crowley Daily Signal of Crowley, Louisiana; Census; Navy enlistment records; grave markers. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.