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Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Battery C, 499th
Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 14th Armored Division. Place and date:
Philippsbourg, France, 3 January 1945. Entered service at: Los Angeles,
Calif. Birth: 27 June 1899, Longview, Tex. G.O. No.: 79, 14 September 1945.
Citation: At Phillippsbourg, France, he was cut off from his artillery
unit by an enemy armored infantry attack. Coming upon a friendly infantry
company withdrawing under the vicious onslaught, he noticed 2 German tanks
and approximately 75 supporting foot soldiers advancing down the main street
of the village. Seizing a rocket launcher, he advanced under intense small-arms
and cannon fire to meet the tanks and, standing in the middle of the road,
fired at them, destroying 1 and disabling the second. From a nearby half-track
he then dismounted a machinegun, placed it in the open street and fired
into the enemy infantrymen, killing or wounding a great number and breaking
up the attack. In the American counterattack which followed, 2 supporting
tanks were disabled by an enemy antitank gun. Firing a light machinegun
from the hip, Pfc. Turner held off the enemy so that the crews of the disabled
vehicles could extricate themselves. He ran through a hail of fire to one
of the tanks which had burst into flames and attempted to rescue a man
who had been unable to escape; but an explosion of the tank's ammunition
frustrated his effort and wounded him painfully. Refusing to be evacuated,
he remained with the infantry until the following day, driving off an enemy
patrol with serious casualties, assisting in capturing a hostile strong
point, and voluntarily and fearlessly driving a truck through heavy enemy
fire to deliver wounded men to the rear aid station. The great courage
displayed by Pfc. Turner and his magnificently heroic initiative contributed
materially to the defense of the French town and inspired the troops about
him.
This data was extracted from the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, U.S. Senate, Medal of Honor Recipients: 1863-1973 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1973)
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