MM2c Harry Turner Roehm

Harry Turner Roehm was born March 28, 1918 on a farm a half mile south of Belle Rive, Illinois 85 east-southeast of St. Louis. His father was Harry Roehm and his mother Minnie Topping Roehm.

Turner, as he was known, was the oldest of three children.

He left Belle Rive, population 333, on Sept. 9, 1937, to enlist in the Navy. Mr. Roehm was a machinist’s mate and petty officer second class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

His brother, Harley, served in the Navy from July 1943 through February 1946.

The Amvets Post No. 4 in nearby Mt. Vernon was named in Turner’s honor.

Sources: the Mt. Vernon (Illinois) Register-News; Census; Navy muster roll; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs death file. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.