Billy Turner was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1922 to John Marshall Turner and Ona Mae McFadden, Billy had one sister, Zealon Gladys also born in Tennessee. The family moved to Ardmore, Carter County, Oklahoma in 1926. John Marshall Turner drove a truck for a local flour mill, Billy and Zealon attended and graduated from Ardmore Public Schools.
Military
Billy Turner enlisted in the Navy on 4 January 1940 at Dallas, Texas and took his basic training at the United States Naval Training School at San Diego, California before being received aboard the USS Oklahoma on March 29, 1940.
On December 7, 1941 the USS Oklahoma was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Torpedoes from bomber airplanes hit the ship’s hull and she flipped upside down. The survivors jumped off the ship 50-feet into the burning oil and diesel or crawled across ropes that moored the USS Oklahoma and the USS Maryland together.
Turner was among the 429 crew members who died aboard the USS Oklahoma, and he became the first World War II casualty from Carter County. Turner Street in Ardmore is named in his honor. He is also the reason why the USS Oklahoma is depicted in the mural on The Ardmoreite newspaper building.
S1c. Billy Turner earned the following citations: Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Navy Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal.
Billy Turner was one of the over 429 missing in action. and was the first casualty of WW II from Ardmore, Oklahoma. Turner street in Ardmore is named in his honor. The historic mural on the Ardmoreite Newspaper building in Ardmore depicts the USS OKLAHOMA in memory of Billy Turner.
The co-mingled remains of the almost 400 sailors and marines were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the 'Punchbowl'. S1c Turner's name is on the Tablets of the Missing at that Cemetery.
On October 8, 2021 the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Navy Seaman 1st Class Billy Turner, 20, was accounted for on October 1, 2021 through extensive DNA analysis.
Billy’s closest relatives are nephew, John William “Bill” Crowell and his wife Darlene; niece, Audrey Crowell; great nephews, Rick Crowell and wife Taylor and Rodney Crowell and wife Sarah; and numerous other family.
Billy’s father, mother and sister Zealon survived him at the time of his death but are now deceased and buried in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Burial
S1c. Billy Turner was memorialized at The Honolulu Memorial, located within the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in an extinct volcano ("The Punchbowl") near the center of Honolulu.. Individuals memorialized here on the tablets at the "Honolulu Memorial" are the Missing in Action, lost, or buried at sea in the Pacific during WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Repatriation
On 4 June 2022 S1c Billy Turner was repatriated to the Oklahoma State Veterans Cemetery in Ardmore, Oklahoma, now renamed 'Seaman First Class Billy Turner' Veterans Cemetery. S1c Turner is the first repatriation in the new cemetery.
Bibliography:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/240576368/s1c_billy-turner
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56134025/billy-turner
https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=103033
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84609259/billy-turner
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency - https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2805387/uss-oklahoma-sailor-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-turner-b/fbclid/IwAR1rAe0QdRxPQ2Cl9PpDGJMBju1e_ulQ65qIdpJg9BTNXwHinU12aVesqxU/
