Ex-WWII POW from Norfolk given burial at sea

Marion "Turk" Turner used to share his experiences as a World War II prisoner of war with sailors over breakfast at Bunny's Restaurant in Suffolk.

On Saturday, those sailors paid their final respects to the Navy veteran in a burial-at-sea ceremony aboard the amphibious assault ship Bataan in the Mediterranean Sea.

"Turk's story brings to life the history of Bataan," Master Chief Petty Officer Noel Vergara said in a news release. "He reminds us personally of the sacrifices we make in the military, and although he was a prisoner of war, he knew he was going to be rescued. He always had a positive outlook on things, and we live a better life now because of the sacrifices he made."

Vergara and Capt. Steve Koehler, the Bataan's commanding officer, first met Turner last May and had grown close to him the past year. Koehler was there in January when Turner was belatedly awarded the Purple Heart.

Turner died in February at age 92.

"I've had two great honors prior to this," Koehler said. "One, pinning a Purple Heart on him 60 years hence, and two, having his wife ask me to speak at his funeral and lay his remains to rest in the deep. It's been such a privilege to do both for him and for her. I'll never forget it."

In a January interview with The Pilot, Turner described what he'd gone through during the war. He was in the Pacific as an electrician on the submarine Perch when the crew was attacked and forced to scuttle the vessel. Japanese soldiers took them to a prison camp on the island of Celebes, in the Dutch East Indies.

He was there 1,294 days.

The prisoners endured beatings, starvation and disease. They survived by ingenuity, Turner said, stealing anything they could find, from knives to food.

One time, they stole beer. On Christmas 1942, Turner volunteered to unload a ship. He figured working would keep him from missing his family. The goods turned out to be cases of Heineken.

"On the way, we'd kick a case off to the side, so we had a pretty good party that time," he said. For years after the war ended, Turner celebrated Christmas with a six-pack of Heineken.

When Japan surrendered in 1945, Turner weighed 140 pounds, well under his usual 180, but healthier than most of the prisoners. He was among the last to leave the island.

He went on to serve in the Korean War and worked as a civilian at the Newport News shipyard.

"Sailors need to remember the heritage that we have in the Navy, and Turk is a shining example of that," Koehler said.

Meredith Kruse, (757) 446-2164, meredith.kruse@pilotonline.com