Durkan attended Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He volunteered for the United States Marine Corps a week after the Attack on Pearl Harbor, soon transferring to the U.S. Navy and receiving training at the Naval V12 program at the University of Washington. He was commissioned an ensign at Northwestern University in 1943, earning the rank of lieutenant. He fought with the Navy amphibious squad in the South Pacific Theater of World War II, and was injured in Saipan. He spent 16 months recovering in naval hospitals in California and Seattle and was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Area Ribbon with 3 stars, the World War II victory Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. While at the University of Washington Durkan met student Lorraine "Lolly" Noonan, whom he began a relationship with and later married in 1951.
