World War I
Harold L. Turner
Corporal · U.S. Army
U.S. Army, Company F, 142d Infantry, 36th Division
8 October 1918 · St Etienne, France
Public domain. Wikimedia Commons Source file
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Era
- World War I
- Home state
- Oklahoma
- Action
- St Etienne, France
The citation
Official citation
After his platoon had started the attack Corporal. Turner assisted in organizing a platoon consisting of the battalion scouts, runners, and a detachment of Signal Corps. As second in command of this platoon he fearlessly led them forward through heavy enemy fire, continually encouraging the men. Later he encountered deadly machinegun fire which reduced the strength of his command to but 4 men, and these were obliged to take shelter. The enemy machinegun emplacement, 25 yards distant, kept up a continual fire from 4 machineguns. After the fire had shifted momentarily, Corporal. Turner rushed forward with fixed bayonet and charged the position alone capturing the strong point with a complement of 50 Germans and 1 machineguns. His remarkable display of courage and fearlessness was instrumental in destroying the strong point, the fire from which had blocked the advance of his company.
Sources
- U.S. Army Medal of Honor citation index
- Wikipedia. Linked only. The article text is not copied here.
