Cpl. Robert James Turner
Birthday: 2 January 1922 – Mount Greenwood (Chicago), Illinois
Parents: Elmer D. Turner & Julia McKeon-Turner
Siblings: 1sister
Home:
– 2735 North Seventy-Fifth Court – Elmwood Park, Illinois
Education:
– John Mills School
– Proviso Township High School
– Class of 1939
– The University of Illinois
– mechanical engineering
Employed: Electro-Motive Corporation
Wife: June
Children: 1 daughter
Residence: 3005 North Normandy Avenue – Chicago, Illinois
Selective Service Registration: 24 June 1942
Contact Person: Elmer D. Turner – father
Inducted:
– 15 August 1943
– U.S. Army Air Corps
Serial Number: 36764671
Training:
– Miami Army Airfield, Miami, Florida
– Camp Harlingen, Killeen, Texas
– Pueblo Army Airfield, Pueblo, Colorado
– waist gunner
Unit:
– 757th Airlift Squadron, 459th Bombardment Group (Heavy)
– B-24 Liberator
Engagements:
– Battle of Italy
– Invasion of Southern France
Killed in Action:
– 15 August 1944
– the plane was supporting the invasion of Southern France by Allied Forces
– plane took off in morning darkness
– crashed three minutes after take-off and ten miles from Giulia Airfield, Cerignola, Italy
– the plane was fully loaded with bombs and fuel
Buried:
– 7 December 1948 – Elmwood Cemetery – River Grove, Illinois
Medals:
– Purple Heart