FORT BENNING, Ga., (April 15, 2015) -- The Fort Benning community lost a beloved member April 6, as retired Maj. Dan Turner passed away at the age of 71.
Turner, a native of Danville, Illinois, was best known for his role as one of three Special Forces team commanders aboard helicopters as part of the Son Tay Raid during the Vietnam War in November 1970.
The raid was an attempt to rescue prisoners of war being held at the Son Tay camp, roughly 23 miles from the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
The raid was one of the largest joint operations since D-Day during World War II. According to the National Museum of the Air Force, the plan was for an Air Force assault group to fly Army Special Forces to Son Tay under cover of darkness, rescue the POWs and leave. The Navy, meanwhile, would create a diversion by flying over Haiphong Harbor on the coast northeast of Hanoi and dropping flares to simulate an attack.
More than 100 aircraft and many support and planning personnel were involved. The Air Force group included assault, attack, tanker, air defense suppression and command and control aircraft. The Army force included 56 handpicked Special Forces troops to engage the enemy on the ground, free the POWs and lead them to rescue helicopters.
Unfortunately, the North Vietnamese had moved the prisoners of war from Son Tay just prior to the raid, leaving none to be rescued by the raiders.
Despite that, the mission was viewed as an important success.
"As a result of this, the North Vietnamese were scared to death because it showed we were willing and able to do a mounted operation right there in the back yard of Hanoi and get out and get away with it," said Dave Stieghan, Infantry Branch historian. "What happened was they then picked up and moved all of their prisoners that they had scattered all over North Vietnam and other places and put them in (Hanoi). What that meant for the prisoners is that the Red Cross knew they were there and were alive, so the (North Vietnamese) couldn't abuse them the same way. (The North Vietnamese) had to feed (the prisoners), (the prisoners) had to get parcels, they had to get messages back to their Families and they had to be counted.
"Knowing that there were other POWs helped their morale tremendously. They knew when the war ended they wouldn't just be killed or summarily executed. While they were a pawn to the peace process, it meant that the vast majority of them survived and were in better mental condition as a result."
As a result of his actions during the raid, Turner was awarded the Silver Star.
According to his citation, Turner "displayed outstanding leadership, personal courage and presence of mind while leading the assault of his group in the target area."
Although his elements had gone into the attack following original orders, he noticed one of the assault helicopters had not landed as planned.
Realizing that immediate action was required to institute an alternate plan, he exposed himself to enemy small arms fire as he moved repeatedly to positions where he could direct the deployment of his elements.
During this period, he was repeatedly fired upon by the enemy with automatic and small arms fire. He returned accurate fire upon these enemy positions, neutralizing them sufficiently to continue his mission.
When the delayed raiding force group landed, he once again exposed himself to fire in order to maintain the same control over his unit and to safely place the delayed element into position.
Per the citation, "Turner's conspicuous disregard for his personal safety, extraordinary heroism against an armed hostile force and extreme devotion to duty (were) in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself and the United States Army."
In the years after the raid, Turner became one of the most trusted sources on its execution.
"Anytime you read any book or anything that is written about the Son Tay Raid, they all list (Turner) as a major source in the acknowledgements or the foreword because he was very forthcoming about his participation and that of his men," Stieghan said. "He was used to talking and telling about it, and remembered a great deal."
Turner retired from active duty in 1981 after a military career that lasted more than 20 years.
However, he would eventually find his way back to Fort Benning to work as a civilian.
Turner worked in the Human Research and Engineering Directorate here for many years, where he helped equip and prepare Soldiers to be successful in combat.
During that time, however, he also found a new passion - educating young Soldiers. Turner was a fixture for Officer Candidate School and Infantry and Maneuver Captains Career Course classes, visiting regularly to share his experience during the Son Tay Raid and his views on leadership.
"Even after being a phenomenal Soldier and leader on active duty, he continued, even though it wasn't his primary mission as a civilian, to volunteer and give of himself to OCS for generations," Stieghan said. "Think of the dozens and dozens and dozens of companies and the thousands of officers of all branches spread throughout the Army who had the opportunity to learn from a master and hear from a man who was there and was willing to spend that time not just to tell about himself, but to tell about Soldiers and leading them in combat."
"In the time I've been here since I got here nine years ago, his talk was one of the keynote events at OCS for a long time until he finally started slowing down," said Douglas Campbell, a history instructor with the Directorate of Training. "He showed up to do this talk, which was a very big thing. Then, at the graduation socials, which he attended almost every one of, he was always there to mentor those people. That kind of underscores that ... even after he left the service, his commitment to training people in leadership was so very strong. He didn't miss those socials."
In addition to his work with OCS and MCCC, Turner also actively sought out young Soldiers to mentor.
"I know several times during Thanksgiving and Christmas he would come to Fort Benning and get some single Soldiers and bring them home with him for the holidays," said Bill Youngblood, a friend of Turner's who worked with him at HRED and now works as a civilian with the 199th Infantry Brigade. "The Bible verse he always lived by was Isaiah 6:8, which says, 'Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"' He lived by that verse. He would quote it constantly."
And while he is mostly associated with his actions at Son Tay, those who knew him personally said there was another side to Turner.
"There was that Dan Turner that we all knew - the Son Tay raider," said Joanie Horton, who works with MCCC students in DOT. "But, he was kind of an unlikely hero because he was so kind. On a personal level, he loved his Family, he loved Soldiers, he was funny and unassuming. He wore his service proudly, but when you conjure up the picture in your head of what a Son Tay raider might look like, Dan doesn't come to mind. ... He would be talking about actions on the objective at Son Tay, and on the turn of a dime his whole face would change when he would talk about his daughters or his wife. It was always obvious how much he cared about his wife because his face would get so soft when he spoke of her. His face would glow when he talked about a PFC or his granddaughter. He had a real soft streak that made his ability as a teambuilder so unique."
While he was willing to speak about his experiences, his friends said he was never arrogant concerning his accomplishments.
"Special Forces and Special Operations folks in general terms think of themselves as the quiet professionals," said Michael Wadsworth, who works in the Maneuver Battle Lab. "They're not the people that have to toot their own horns. They know what they did, and that's enough. That's how Dan was."
Turner retired as a civilian in 2012, but continued to speak to Soldiers on Fort Benning until his unexpected death April 6.
"When he passed, it took part of me away," Youngblood said. "His wife called and spoke to my wife and asked if she would participate in the funeral service. At first, it was just a verse reading, but they talked more and she asked my wife to officiate the entire service. After my wife hung up, she started crying. ... Dan was more of a father to us and any time my wife needed something, he was there that quick."
Horton said Turner leaves behind an impressive legacy of service.
"First and foremost, he's obviously a hero and an advocate for Soldiers," Horton said. "He was a Family man and at the end of the day, we'd all agree he had a life very well lived that many, many people would love to have had. His contribution to the force, in both the formal classes he gave and those informal mentorship opportunities he always looked for and found, will continue for generations. It's a legacy that I think very few men enjoy."
Wadsworth said he will remember Turner as a friend and American hero.
"Dan is a national treasure," Wadsworth said. "I've never met a man like him before. He is truly a unique individual. The loss to America can't be overstated. His contribution, both as a military man and as a civilian and veteran afterward, is just really remarkable when you think about how he continued to contribute and work both directly as part of HRED and indirectly in his commitment to educate young Soldiers and tell them about their history and their Army."
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