On HamptonRoads.com, Elisabeth Hulette tells the remarkable story of Marion 'Turk' Turner, 92, a Navy man stationed in San Diego during World War II who spent three years in a Japanese prison camp. But Turner, whose health was permanently damaged from the beatings and malnutrition he suffered in that prison, inexplicably never received a Purple Heart for his war injuries. Until now.
More than a half-century after the end of the war, with assistance from U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, Hulette reports, Turner, who spent 20 years in the Navy, was finally awarded the prestigious medal this week by retired Rear Adm. Fred Metz, who during the surprise ceremony in Virginia Beach (where Turner now lives), said:
