by BECKY GOFF
Little Apple Post
MANHATTAN - More than 80 years after being killed while serving on the USS California, Seaman Second Class Pete Turk's repatriated remains were finally laid to rest at the Kansas Veterans' Cemetery at Fort Riley in Manhattan.
Born in Roseland Kansas, Turk enlisted in the US Navy on September 24, 1940 in Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 19.
On November 25, 1940, Turk reported for duty aboard the USS California, a flagship of the Battle Force.
On December 7th, 1941, the USS California was attacked by Japanese forces while moored at Pearl Harbor.
One hundred and four sailors and Marines, including Turk, were lost, following the severe damage caused by multiple torpedoes and bombs hitting the USS California.
In 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency began to exhume the unknown remains associated with the USS California and had them reexamined using updated forensic technology and circumstantial evidence to identify the remains of Seaman Second Class Turk.
"The full counting mission of the Defense P.O.W. and Accountability Agency. Is there. That's their primary goal, is to account for every American service member that is unaccounted for in every foreign war that we served in. We take this very seriously in the VFW and support that program and definitely encourage Congress to support D.P.A.A. with funding to, to bring home every one of our service members." Kansas VFW P.O.W. M.I.A. chair, David Babin says.
Turk was honored with a funeral service with military honors and a final resting place in the Kansas Veterans' Cemetery at Fort Riley in Manhattan.
"As the Kansas VFW P.O.W. M.I.A. chair, I strive to not only have the VFW post VFW as participate in these programs, I encourage the community to, to participate and to spread awareness to the public that we never forget a fallen comrade and that we will bring them all home, no matter how long it takes." Babin says.
Seaman Second Class Turk's remains were escorted by motorcycle riders from the American Legion Post 45 Junction City.