Resident looks back on Pearl Harbor

Stories and memories of that infamous day nearly 60 years ago of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, filled the afternoon for Ray Turpin.

Flanked by his wife of more than 56 years, Wanda, and one of their 11 grandchildren, Jennifer Vaughan, Turpin spun a web of factual recollections and emotional moments.

Born in Alabama in June 1921, Turpin enlisted in the Marine Corps in November 1940 at age 19 -- the draft was only taking 21-year-olds and he wanted to pick his assignment.

Following his basic training in San Diego, Turpin found his interest peaked by the U.S. Navy's need for men to work on ships. He attended basic Sea School, learned Navy customs and garnered an assignment on a Man-O-War vessel in the Pacific Fleet, docked in Pearl Harbor -- the USS Oklahoma.

Once his training was complete, he boarded the USS Lexington and headed west to the Hawaiian Islands. The Pacific fleet in mid-1940 was a flotilla of battleships from cruisers to destroyers to aircraft carriers. The fleet was home to many warships and thousands of military and civilian personnel.

"It was a time of training for all of us," Turpin began. "The government insisted we do things that didn't cost nearly as much money as using real bombs and real shells. It was a time of austerity.

"The country had been through the Depression and conservation was a way of life."

There were 78 Marines on the Oklahoma, the general complement on a battleship at that time, along with nearly 1,000 Navy crew members.

"My duty was to man the 5-inch gun using 51 caliber ammunition, which was used to fire at submarines and the like. We had 14-inch guns on our ship, while some ships had 16-inch guns. Boy those were something to watch. We didn't get to shoot too much because of the austerity program. During drills we fired 30 caliber blanks. It was possible to track them to see that we would be on target."

As a matter of procedure, the crew of Marines on the ship was divided into two groups. At least 50 percent of the crew had to be on board the ship at all times.

Drawing a deep breath, and resting back in a living room chair, Turpin began a story of the day "which will live in infamy."

"It was my half of the group's weekend to be off the ship, that December weekend. We were just back from breakfast trying to decide if we were going ashore and what we would do if we did.

"All of a sudden the announcement came to man the guns -- it was not a drill, it was the real thing.

"Since we were not involved in the actual firing of the guns, we were to seek shelter on the third deck. When I heard the anxiety in his voice, speaking the way he was on the public address system, I kinda froze.

"Then we ran like crazy to the third deck. On the way, we ran by a port hole and someone said, "I saw that plane (a Japanese bomber) drop a torpedo in the water. The torpedo hit just forward of where I was (a direct hit on the Oklahoma) and the very next thing I heard was the announcement to man your battle stations.

"We ran from the third deck to man the 5-inch gun on the starboard side of the ship."

Before the crew could even fire the gun, the heavily damaged and listing Oklahoma took another hit from a Japanese-launched torpedo.

"Stuff began really falling down all over the ship and once we were hit the second time, we began to list a great deal more."

After the second torpedo ripped its path of destruction through the side of the sinking ship, the general order came down to abandon ship.

The Oklahoma was docked only a few feet from the USS Maryland and when the order was given to abandon ship, many crew members jumped overboard in an effort to swim to the nearby battleship.

"As the Oklahoma took a third torpedo it was really listing. The ship was listing at what appeared to be a 45 degree angle. That was when I saw the (USS) Arizona blow up. I was looking right at it when the bombs landed and blew the ship's magazine. There was an uncommon amount of roar, and the heat from the explosion was intense."

With the Oklahoma on its way to the bottom of the harbor, Turpin earned hero status. As he recalled that Sunday morning, the emotions of the moment were high, as his wife and granddaughter shared a tearful moment reliving that day with their loved one.

"There were men trapped below deck and they were hollering for help. They were trying to get out of port holes and needed some help. Chaplain Schmidt (Herbert) was pushing the men from behind. They were young and skinny and once we were able to get their shoulders through, we could pull them out while Chaplain Smith would push.

"There was this one fellow who had been in the service and had put on a few extra pounds and we were having trouble getting him through. The ship was continuing to list badly and this guy was yelling at the top of his lungs to get him through. I was pulling and the chaplain was pushing. He kept yelling `don't stop, keep pulling.' We were rocking him like a fence post you're trying to get out of the ground, and after some real rocking, we finally got him through," Turpin said as the anxiety of telling this trying tale began to pass.

"Chaplain Smith was older and had a few extra pounds," he continued. "He said he knew he was too large to get through and he would go back to see if there were any more survivors. Just then, the ship slipped further and the water came through the port holes, and he was gone."

It was more than 50 years later that Turpin received one of the biggest -- and happiest -- surprises of his life.

While attending a reunion of veterans from the USS Oklahoma in Reno, he was about two tables away from a man who had risen to his feet and told the story of being saved on the sinking ship.

"He was saying how he was almost too large to get out and that someone on that ship had helped him through that port hole," Turpin explained in an emotion filled voice as his family members shed tears at the recollection of the event.

"He said he would give anything to meet the man who pulled him out. I was that man," Turpin exclaimed.

The survivor, Bob Burns and Turpin became close friends after that fateful meeting.

From the rescue of the trapped sailors Turpin, who said he had no plan to jump into the water between the docked ships, found a rope line connecting the Oklahoma and Maryland. As he tried to climb the rope between the battleships a sailor on the Maryland took a fire ax and cut the rope -- which had been pulling the Maryland out of its docking -- and Turpin fell to the oil-covered water below.

The space between the war ships, some 10-15 feet, was where many of the 435 lost from the Oklahoma found a watery grave, Turpin said. He added that's why he chose not to intentionally jump into the space. "It was almost like fish in a barrel."

Once the rope was gone, the Oklahoma went completely on its side, adding to the number of crew members to perish in the attack.

Once on the Maryland, Turpin got his chance to shoot at the enemy, joining for a short time a gunnery crew. "We didn't even get a shot off from the Oklahoma before we went down, so this gave me a certain amount of revenge." Turpin was ordered to sick bay by a doctor who had seen him wet and oil-covered from his fall into the water.

He watched as Japanese planes fell helplessly into the water, once the American guns joined the battle.

"I believe if we had been allowed the 45 minutes' notice to the actual attack it would have been considerably different. Ships would have been out of port and planes would have been in the air," he said.

It was more than three months before Turpin's family was notified by his own hand on a post card that he was all right. It was three years before he had a leave for a Christmas holiday.

He finished the war effort in the occupation of Japan following the treaty of surrender in August 1945.

Turpin spent over 41 years in service with the U.S. Department of Defense. With 20 years' service in the Marines and a civilian career working at military installations, he served in two wars with action in the Korean theater. He also was in Thailand in 1972 as a civilian as the Vietnam war continued to rage. He was never wounded in his entire military career. An exploding torpedo did rob him of some hearing, but he did not sustain wounds from enemy weapons.

Turpin and his wife, who were married in Chicago on May 18, 1945, raised three children, have 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

The family moved to Las Vegas in 1966 when he accepted a civilian post at Nellis Air Force Base. Turpin's civilian career offered a variety of positions and, for a while, his family criss-crossed the country in several job locations. It was the move to Las Vegas when the family put down roots, and while some assignments took him from the valley for periods of time, his family stayed put.

He retired in 1984 and is happy to proclaim his entire family is still in the valley.

A distinguished military and professional career have provided Ray Turpin with a mind full of memories and a life that has been filled not only with professional satisfaction, but also happiness.