Kilmer files bill to name post office after pioneering Navy chief

BREMERTON — The U.S. Post Office on Pacific Avenue would be renamed the John Henry Turpin Post Office Building in commemoration of the trailblazing Navy chief petty officer under a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor. 

Turpin was one of the first African Americans to achieve the rank of chief petty officer, and his 29-year career in the Navy included service during the Spanish-American War, the Boxer Rebellion and World War I. 

"He has quite the legacy, starting at the beginning of his Navy career," said Megan Churchwell, Puget Sound Naval Museum historian.

Turpin enlisted in the Navy at 20, according to a press release from Kilmer's office. 

He served on the USS Maine and was onboard during an explosion in 1898 while it was in the harbor of Havana, Cuba. He also survived the boiler explosion on USS Bennington in 1905 in San Diego Harbor. Sixty-six members of the 102-person crew were killed in the explosion. Turpin is credited with saving the lives of three officers and 12 sailors by swimming them to shore one at a time.

Turpin also made many contributions in the world of navy diving. Churchwell said he was one of the first to explore the use of underwater cutting torches as one of the Navy's first Master Divers.

After he retired from active duty, he served an additional 22 years at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. 

Kilmer lauded Turpin's service.

“John Henry Turpin’s outstanding legacy of service to our country is made even more significant by the era of prejudice and discrimination during which he served,” Kilmer said in a press release. “Turpin repeatedly answered the call of duty to his country, served with great distinction, and rose in rank throughout his Navy career." 

The historic downtown Bremerton office has breathed Navy history since 1936, making the proposed Turpin namesake an organic tie, postal officials say.  

“We get a new group of (Navy) kids coming in every few years," said Jim Kidd, a USPS employee at the Bremerton office. "I'd say probably over half the box section is military and we get to know them all by name.”

Generations of military servicemen and women have walked through the same historic building, with walls adorned by murals the Works Progress Administration painted in 1946, Kidd said.

Twelve years ago, the office went up for sale during a USPS downsizing. Kidd said USPS’ plan was to close the office and combine its operations with the Sheridan Way location in a strip mall space.

But U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, former 6th District congressmen, sent a letter to USPS, encouraging it to keep the historic downtown presence, Kidd said.

"We just got a new roof and HVAC," Kidd said. "We aren’t going anywhere.”

After meeting with Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler and local NAACP leadership, Kilmer said he determined the post office's historic brick walls were a "fitting tribute" for Turpin's legacy. It's been 60 years since his death and almost 120 years after his enlistment.

The bill, H.R.4034, was introduced to the house July 25 and requires approval by the House, Senate and must be signed by the president before going into effect.

The building, at 620 Pacific Ave. in Bremerton, would be recognized on all government documentation, maps and regulation as the John Henry Turpin Post Office Building.

"Dick Turpin lived his life in the service of others," Kilmer said in his statement. "Now it’s our part to make sure he’s not forgotten and his legacy lives on."