Our Arklahoma Heroes: A McCurtain County soldier lost two fingers but won a Purple Heart at the Battle of Luzon

Sydney L. “Sid” Hunnicutt was born on July 13, 1917, in Idabe to Gip and Gennie (Williams) Hunnicutt. He left school early so he could work and help support his family. As a young man he moved west to Corona, California, where he labored in the orchards. There, on June 4, 1938, he married Dorothy Mae Chambers.

The two would remain together for 81 years.

When World War II came, Hunnicutt was drafted into the United States Army. He served as an infantryman with Charlie Company, 63rd Infantry Regiment, 6th Infantry Division, a unit nicknamed the Sightseeing Sixth.

The division fought in New Guinea before landing on Luzon in the Philippines in January 1945 as part of the large amphibious assault at Lingayen Gulf. The 63rd Regiment took part in the hard fighting that followed, including the costly series of actions the men called the Purple Heart Valley campaign against entrenched Japanese forces in the hills.

During the Battle of Luzon, Hunnicutt was shot in his left hand. He lost two fingers and received the Purple Heart.

After the war, he returned home. For a time, he hauled cattle and molasses. Then he and his family settled back in McCurtain County. In the Pollard community, he farmed, raising crops that drew buyers from a wide area. He continued that work until age made it impossible. He and Dorothy raised a family that included sons Harvey and Richard Dale and daughter Dorothy Cash, along with many grandchildren and later generations.

Richard Dale and two grandchildren, Ricky and Michael, died before him. He was also preceded in death by his parents and by several siblings.

Hunnicutt lived a long quiet life on the land. In July 2019, when he turned 102, the McCurtain County VA Clinic in Idabel held a celebration for him. Family members came, including some who traveled from California. There was cake and ice cream. Clinic staff and leaders from the Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System presented cards and a gift.

Clinic manager Lisa Morphew said the staff wanted to show veterans they cared. Associate director Jonathan Plasencia, who drove from Muskogee, called it an honor to mark the milestone of a member of the Greatest Generation.

Dr. Jose Gomez, Hunnicutt’s primary care physician at the clinic since it opened in 2017, said it was a privilege to care for him and to shake his hand. Hunnicutt himself kept it simple: “It couldn’t have been better.”

He continued receiving care at the clinic until his death on April 17, 2021, at the age of 103. Family tributes later described him as larger than life and a force to be reckoned with. Visitation and funeral services were held at White Family Funeral Home in Idabel, with interment in Denison Cemetery.

In the end, the man who left school early to help his family, worked the California orchards, fought and was wounded on Luzon, and then spent decades farming in Pollard left a straightforward record.

He put his life on the line, came home, built a long marriage and a family, and stayed rooted in the place where he was born. Local VA providers said it was an honor to care for him. His own words after the birthday gathering captured the same plain satisfaction he seemed to carry through more than a century.