Andrew D. Turner

{{Short description|American military officer and fighter pilot}}

{{Infobox military person

|honorific_prefix=2nd lieutenantf

|name=Andrew D. Turner

|birth_date= {{birth date|mf=yes|1920|01|06}}

|death_date= {{death date and age|1947|09|14|1920|01|06}}

|birth_place= Washington D.C.

|death_place= Lockbourne Army Airfield

|placeofburial=Arlington National Cemetery

|placeofburial_label=

|image=File:Photograph of Captain Andrew D. Turner, ca. 09-1944 - NARA - 535765.jpg

|caption=Turner in September 1944

|nickname=Jugs

|allegiance= United States of America

|branch= United States Army Air Forces

|serviceyears=1942-1947

|rank= 2nd lieutenant

|commands=100th Fighter Squadron

|unit=

|battles= World War II

|awards= {{plainlist|

Air Medal
Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Tuskegee Airmen
Distinguished Flying Cross}}

|relations=

|laterwork=

}}

Andrew D. Turner (6 January 1920 – 14 September 1947) was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) and a fighter pilot and commanding officer of the all-African American 332nd Fighter Group's 100th Fighter Squadron, best known as the all-African American Tuskegee Airmen, "Red Tails," or among enemy German pilots, “Schwarze Vogelmenschen” ("Black Birdmen").{{cite web|title=Public Law 109–213—APR. 11, 2006 Congressional Gold Medal to the Tuskegee Airmen|url=https://www.congress.gov/109/plaws/publ213/PLAW-109publ213.pdf|website=Congress.gov|publisher=US Library of Congress|date=11 April 2006|access-date=14 November 2021}}{{Cite web|date=2019-10-29|title=Andrew D. Turner|url=https://cafriseabove.org/andrew-d-turner/|access-date=2021-07-11|website=CAF RISE ABOVE|language=en-US}}{{cite web |title=Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Roster |url=https://cafriseabove.org/the-tuskegee-airmen/tuskegee-airmen-pilot-roster/|publisher=CAF Rise Above|access-date=11 August 2020}}

Early life

Turner was born on 6 January 1920 in the Deanwood neighborhood of Washington D.C.{{cite book|last=Francis|first=Charles|title=The Tuskegee Airmen: The Men who Changed a Nation|publisher=Branden Books|year=1997|isbn=9780828320290}}{{rp|263}} He was the son of Reverend Clarence Turner I, a founding member of the First Baptist Church of Deanwood.{{Cite web|title=Andrew D Turner {{!}} American Air Museum in Britain|url=http://www.americanairmuseum.com/person/241746|access-date=2021-07-11|website=www.americanairmuseum.com}}

Turner attended Deanwood Elementary and Dunbar High School in Washington, DC.{{rp|263}}

Military career

File:Tuskegee Airmen - Circa May 1942 to Aug 1943.jpg, William T. Mattison, John A. Gibson, Elwood T. Driver, Price D. Rice, Andrew D. Turner]]

File:Tuskegee P-51.jpg

File:Pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group.jpg, Lt. Carroll S. Woods, Lt. Robert H. Nelson, Jr., Capt. Andrew D. Turner, and Lt. Clarence P. Lester. (U.S. Air Force photo)]]

On 9 October 1942, Turner graduated from Tuskegee's cadet pilot training class 42-I-SE, receiving his wings and a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant.{{cite book|last1=Horman|first1=Lynn|last2=Reilly|first2=Thomas|title=The Tuskegee Airmen|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=1998|isbn=9780738500454|page=63}} The U.S. Army Air Corps assigned Turner to the 332nd Fighter Group's 100th Fighter Squadron.{{rp|264}}

In June 1944, Turner became the 100th Fighter Squadron's commanding officer, after previous squadron commander, Lieutenant Robert B. Tresville, failed to return from a mission.{{rp|264}} On 18 July 1944, he was credited with damaging a German Bf 109 aircraft. During World War II, he flew a total of 69 missions.{{rp|264}}

He returned to the U.S. on 10 June 1945 and on 17 July became the deputy commander of the 477th Fighter Group at Godman Army Airfield which was training in preparation for deployment to the Pacific Theater. After the war Turner stayed in the USAAF and continued to serve in the 477th as it moved to Lockbourne Army Airfield in March 1946. With the reorganization of the 477th into the 332nd Fighter Group and then the 332nd Fighter Wing in mid-1946 he became the Wing's operations and training officer.{{rp|264}}

Awards

Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters{{rp|264}}
Distinguished Flying Cross.{{rp|264}}
Congressional Gold Medal (2006) awarded to the Tuskegee Airmen

Death

On 14 September 1947 Turner was killed in a mid-air collision near Lockbourne when his Republic P-47N Thunderbolt crashed into another fighter pilot's aircraft, killing both pilots.{{rp|264–5}} He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

=Notes=

References

External links

Fly (2009 play about the 332d Fighter Group)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqHdD1u1cqY Herman A. Lawson Black Eagles]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20131204121846/http://www.tuskegee.edu/about_us/legacy_of_fame/tuskegee_airmen.aspx Tuskegee Airmen] at Tuskegee University
[http://library.ucr.edu/?view=tuskegee/index.html Tuskegee Airmen Archives] at the University of California, Riverside Libraries.
[http://tuskegeeairmen.org/ Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.]
[https://www.nps.gov/tuai/index.htm Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site] (U.S. National Park Service)
[http://www.tuskegeeairmennationalmuseum.org/ Tuskegee Airmen National Museum]