Andrew D. Turner (6 January 1920 – 14 September 1947) was an officer in the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) and a fighter pilot and commanding officer of the all-

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

332nd Fighter Group The 332d Expeditionary Operations Group is a provisional air expeditionary group of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command, currently active. It was inactivated on 8 May 2012 and reactivated 16 November 2014. The group forms part of ...

100th Fighter Squadron The 100th Fighter Squadron (100 FS) is a unit of the Alabama Air National Guard 187th Fighter Wing located at Dannelly Field, Alabama. The 100th is equipped with the General Dynamics F-16C+ Fighting Falcon. The 100th FS was one of the Tuskeg ...

, best known as the all-

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the ...

, "Red Tails," or among enemy German pilots, “Schwartze Vogelmenschen” ("Black Birdmen").

Early life

Turner was born on 6 January 1920 in the Deanwood neighborhood of

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

He was the son of Reverend Clarence Turner I, a founding member of the First Baptist Church of Deanwood. Turner attended Deanwood Elementary and Dunbar High School in Washington, DC.

Military career

Tuskegee Airmen - Circa May 1942 to Aug 1943

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 Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

. The U.S. Army Air Corps assigned Turner to the

's 100th Fighter Squadron. 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. On 18 July 1944, he was credited with damaging a German

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

aircraft. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he flew a total of 69 missions. He returned to the U.S. on 10 June 1945 and on 17 July became the deputy commander of the

477th Fighter Group The 477th Fighter Group is an Air Reserve unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska. The 477th FG is an associate unit of the 3r ...

Godman Army Airfield Godman Army Airfield is a military airport located on the Fort Knox United States Army post in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. It has four runways and is used entirely by the United States Army Aviation Branch. UFOs: Mantell Incident ...

which was training in preparation for deployment to the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. After the war Turner stayed in the USAAF and continued to serve in the 477th as it moved to

Lockbourne Army Airfield Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base is an Ohio Air National Guard installation located near Lockbourne in southern Franklin County. The base was named for the famous early aviator and Columbus native Eddie Rickenbacker. It is the home of t ...

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.

Awards

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

with four oak leaf clusters * Distinguished Flying Cross. *

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

(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. He was interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

References

External links

Fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

(2009 play about the 332d Fighter Group)
Herman A. Lawson Black EaglesTuskegee Airmen
at

Tuskegee University Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...

Tuskegee Airmen Archives
at the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The main campus sits on in a suburban distr ...

Libraries.
Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.

( U.S. National Park Service)
Tuskegee Airmen National Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Andrew D. 1920 births 1947 deaths Tuskegee Airmen United States Army Air Forces officers Military personnel from Tuskegee, Alabama African-American aviators Military personnel from Washington, D.C. People from Washington, D.C. Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)