The August Las Vegas Review Journal reported on the death of World War II Marine veteran Ray Turpin, 88, who was aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Dec. 7, 1941. He escaped by crawling along a rope hand-over-hand to the USS Maryland.
Before that, he rescued five sailors from a porthole and was assisted by Father Aloysius Schmidt who rescued 12 sailors. He later died in the battle. Father Schmidt received the Navu and Marine medals posthumously.
Turpin ended up in the water when the crew of the Maryland cut the line to prevent the battleship from going down with the Oklahoma.He fell into the oil-slick water and was pulled to safety by a sailor who could swim(Turpin couldn't).
Raymond John Turpin was born to a poor family in Alabama in 1921.
Greatest Generation. -- Cooter
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