MS Pearl Harbor survivor turns 100

A Mississippi man, who survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, turned 100 on July 9. William Breland grew up in the area of Marion and Walthall counties to a family of sharecroppers. As a child, he got up at 4 in the morning to fire the wood-burning stove and made breakfast for the family. During the day, he picked cotton with the family for 50 cents a day. They never knew they were poor, only thought about working hard and becoming successful - something Breland accomplished through his military service. He attained the rank of major, and retired from the Army in 1960. Breland and his late brother Parley enlisted in the Army Air Corps before WWII. Both were stationed in Hawaii in 1941. Bill was at Hickam Air Force Base on that fateful Sunday morning. Parley was at Wheeler Army Air Field. In the last few years, William, a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, lived on the family's property, where he and his wife of 64 years raised four children. He now lives with his son, John, in Ridgeland. His wife has since passed away. Breland will celebrate his 100th birthday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Columbia on July 12. (Source: Hattiesburg American 07/12/18)