"Private Turner, at Phillippsbourg, France, on 3 January 1945 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 two German tanks and approximately seventy-five
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 one and disabling the second. From a nearby
half-track he then dismounted a machine gun, 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, two supporting tanks were disabled by an enemy antitank gun. Firing a light machine gun from the hip, Private 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 Private Turner and his magnificently heroic initiative
contributed materially to the defense of the French town and inspired
the troops about him."
From Pvt. Turner's Medal of Honor citation, awarded on August 23, 1945.
Awarded the Texas Legislative Medal of Honor in 1997.
May you be at peace,
Brian
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