Charley “Tuna” Turner

Fallen Hero’s Hometown and State: Richfield, MN

Branch of Service: U.S. Navy

Rank: Lieutenant

Lieutenant Turner and his pilot were shot down the evening of January 18, 1991, after completing a bombing mission over the port facility of Umm Qasr, Iraq. He and his pilot, Lt. Tom Costen of St. Louis, were both awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, naval aviation’s highest honor.

Charley grew up with his brothers in Richfield, MN enjoying the great outdoors and beginning his journey in the Boy Scouts of America program, which spoke to his servant leadership and purpose early in his life.

The final excerpt in Turner’s journal: “I know I have a son… strong, healthy, and happy with a strong good woman to raise him if I do not return. I feel I have hit all life’s highlights and left a legacy to boot… a boy who will grow into a man and carry on the name of Turner. A boy who will grow knowing that If I am not with him, it is because I did my duty and not because I didn’t love him.”

Age: 29

Date of Death: January 18, 1991