In Memoriam

JAMES A. O'REAR
September 12, 1924 ~ January 4, 1945

JAMES O'REAR, FOOTBALL STAR, KILLED JAN. 4
Idabel Hi Athlete Was Paratrooper With 17th Division

One of Idabel's finest athletes, Pfc. James Anderson O'Rear, Jr., 20, was killed in action in Belgium on January 4, the War Department notified his step-mother, Mrs. Ida O'Rear, Monday.

Pfc. O'Rear was inducted in the army July 4, 1943, only a month or so after he had graduated from Idabel high school with the class of that year. He volunteered as a paratrooper and was sent to Ft. Benning, Ga., for basic training. He was later at Camp Mackall, N. C., and Camp Fottest, Tenn., and was sent overseas last fall, landing in England in September.

He was a member of the Parachute Infantry of the 17th Airborne division. The last letter received by his family from him was from England and dated December 19, 1944.

Pfc. O'Rear will be remembered as one of the outstanding football players of Idabel high school for alltime. He lettered in 1940, '41 and '42, captaining the Wattiors in his senior year.

He was a tower of strength in the Warrior line, as a guard and highly regarded by his coach, W. W. Holman who rates him along with Lou Dollarhide, who made all-state in '42, while James won honorable mention, one of the few Idabel boys to attain that honor on the Oklahoma's annual roundup of state football stars.

James was also an outstanding student and highly popular with the student body and faculty.

Survivors are his step-mother; five brothers, Pvt. Lloyd O'Rear, with Seventh Army in France; Pvt. Basil O'Rear, U. S. Army, Philipines; Paul O'Rear, Hooks, Texas; Billy O'Rear and Earl O'Rear, Idabel; six sisters, Mrs. John C. Ferguson, Mrs. Alvia Lee Pollard, Miss Laverne O'Rear, Miss Imogene O'Rear and Miss Laura Lee O'Rear, Idabel, and Miss Pauline O'Rear, Wichita, Kansas.

Pfc. O'Rear was born September 12, 1924, and was reared at Marshall Hill. His father, James A. O'Rear, died November 10, 1937.

S-Sgt. Alvia Lee Pollard, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Pollard of Pollard, and brother-in-law of Pfc. O'Rear, was killed in action on July 12, 1943 in Sicily.

McCurtain Gazette
Wednesday, January 24, 1945

Three sons and two sons-in-law of Mrs. Ida O'Rear have entered the armed services in World War II, one son and one son-in-law making the supreme sacrifice for their country, while her other two sons and son-in-law are still overseas fighting in Europe and the Pacific.

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Pfc. James Anderson O'Rear, 20, a former Idabel High School grid star, was killed in action in Belgium on January 4. He was inducted on July 4, 1943, and went overseas last fall with the 17th Airborne Division.

Taken From:
McCurtain County Genealogy Society
Idabel Public Library

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MORE INFORMATION RECEIVED ON DEATH OF JAMES O'REAR

Additional information concerning the death of Pfc. James O'Rear, Jr., Idabel, was learned this week in a letter fromChaplain George W. Crain to Miss LaVerne O'Rear, sister of the soldier.

Pfc. O'Rear was killed in action in Belgium on January 4. His mother, Mrs. J. A. O'Rear, Idabel, Monday received the Purple Heart awarded her son.

The letter said:
"Our regiment had been thrown into action to repel an attack being made by the enemy at a very crucial spot in our lines. The attack, if it had been successful, would have materially affected our whole position in that part of Belgium.

"The 17th A. B. division met the attack and stopped it. In that action the 513th Parachute infantry took an important part. James was in the thick of it from the very beginning and did his job very well. A heavy barrage of enemy artillery or mortar fire fell in the positions occupied by his company, and he was killed instantly by shrapnel from one of the shells.

Pfc. O'Rear, former Idabel football star, was buried in the American Third Army cemetery in France.

McCurtain Gazette
Wednesday, March 7, 1945

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REBURIAL SET FOR PFC. O'REAR

Reburial services for Pfc. James Anderson O'Rear, Jr., who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge, Belgium, on January 4, 1945, have been set for 4:30 p. m. Sunday at Denison cemetery with Rev. Clarence Baldwin officiating.

A military service will be conducted.

Arrangements and burial are under direction of Wilson funeral home. The body is due to arrive by train Sunday afternoon.

Born September 12, 1924, he was reared near Marshall Hill. He attended Gray high school where he lettered in 1940, '41 and '42, being captain of the Warrior football team in his senior year.

He entered the army in July, 1943, shortly after graduating from Gray high, and he volunteered for the paratroops. He went overseas in September, 1944.

Pallbearers will be his coach and former team mates, Woodeow Holman, Paul Hendrix, Jimmie Lee King, James H. Ginn, Burl Mays and Kenneth Palmer.

A quartet will sing "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder," "God Will Take Care of You," and "Land That is Fairer Than Day."

Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Ida O'Rear, Idabel route 1; five brothers, Earl R., Paul and Basil M. O'Rear, all of Texarkana; Lloyd W. and William H. O'Rear, both of Idabel; and five sisters, Mrs. William F. Bunn, Texarkana; Miss Laverne O'Rear, Lawton, and Mrs. Pauline Taply, Miss Imogene and Miss Laura Lee O'Rear, all of Idabel.

McCurtain Gazette
Saturday, August 27, 1949