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David 'Russ' Russell
Russ was born in Auburn in Nebraska on September 15, 1920.  Russ was the oldest of four children, a girl and three boys. He was 19 when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in November of 1939. Russ was assigned to the battleship U.S.S. Oklahoma as a Seaman 1st Class. He arrived in Pearl Harbor on the Oklahoma in mid-October 1941.  Russ survived the December 7, 1941 Japanese surprise attack escaping from the Oklahoma just before it capsized.  He was later assigned to a destroyer, the U.S.S. Mahan, and survived the sinking of that ship on December 7, 1944.  Russ saw post-war duty in Japan, and served during the Korean War, retiring from the Navy in1960.  He then spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force working as a civilian employee before retiring in 1980.  Russ now resides in Albany, OR and turned 99 on September 15, 2019.  He went on his Honor Flight in May 2014.
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