Private First Class Jack P. Turner (20838189) was born in 1921 in Bent County, Colorado. He had two years of High School, and was single when he enlisted in the Colorado National Guard on September 16, 1940. He became a Medic, was assigned to Company E, 157th Infantry Regiment (Rifle), 45th Infantry Division (“Thunderbirds”), 7th Army, and was sent overseas.

The 45th Infantry Division, having already fought in Sicily and Italy, was sent to southern France in August 1944. It quickly advanced through western France, reaching the German border by the end of the year.

On October 12, 1943, at Ponte-Cassalduni, Italy, Medic PFC Turner rushed to the aid of and saved the life of his Company E Commander, Captain Felix Sparks, who had been shot in the abdomen by a 40mm anti-aircraft shell. CPT Sparks returned to command of E Company several months later.  After the war, CPT Sparks, who had led the entire 157th Infantry Regiment, visited the home of PFC Turner’s parents in Lamar, Colorado, which had been the town from which Company E of the 157th had been drawn. He had been greatly affected by their son’s death and told them that “he had been a good man.”

On December 15, 1943, PFC Turner was killed in action by enemy machine gun fire on mountain “640” near Venafro, Italy, 44 miles north-northwest of Naples. He was 22 years old.

PFC Turner is buried in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Plot F, Row 1, Grave 27, located at the town of Nettuno, Italy.

See the link to the full Fold3.com story about PFC Turner at the bottom of the following Find A Grave page.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56315290/jack-p-turner