Charles Ira Turner

Charles Ira Turner Born March 1, 1916 Died May 31, 2008 Charles Ira Turner died on May 31st, 2008 at Piedmont Newnan Hospital surrounded by his loving family after a brief illness. He was the son of Charles Monroe Turner and Eunice Stamps Turner. Charles, a Coweta County native, grew up in the community of Sargent on Wagers Mill Road. He attended elementary and junior school in Sargent before graduating from Newnan High School in 1934. Mr. Turner enlisted in the Army Air Corp. in October of 1940 and was assigned duty as a machinist. It wasn’t long before he could take apart every aircraft the military flew. He was interviewed in the Newnan Times Herald for the series “Our Greatest Generation” by Alex McRae, November 19th, 2007. In the article Mr. Turner said “When you are working on a plane, you can’t afford to take a chance, he says. “You can’t say “I think”. You have to know. Charles Turners motto was “Get it right”. And I made sure my men did.” He also gave credit to his crew by saying” I always said I had great crews working with me. “They always outdid themselves. The frantic pace picked up even more when planes began flying D-Day missions on the night of June 5, 1944. Turner and his men were responsible for 120 planes. They worked 72 hours straight patching and reparing and getting them back in the air as fast as possible. Commanders had estimated 25 percent of the planes would be lost during the D-Day invasion. Turner’s group only lost 2 percent. “We knew how important that was, “he says. “We had to keep everything in the air. People’s lives depended on those planes. We figured we‘d sleep later.” After WWII he continued his military service and retired as a master sergeant with over 20 years of service. After his military career ended, he worked at Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Georgia, where he participated in the production of the C-5 cargo plane. Charles Turner was predeceased by his wife Myrtle Gilbert Turner, his two sisters, Dora T. Tillotson and Evelyn T. Attaway, sons Charles Turner, Jr. , and John Turner, daughter Charlene Turner Moore, step-children Marvin Gilbert, Jack Gilbert, Charles Gilbert and Donald Gilbert. Survivors are daughter Sherry T. Smith, step daughters Betty Jean Rogers and Hilda McEwan and step son Richard “Tiny” Gilbert .and 38 grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren. Additionally Mr. Turner is survived by 3 loving nieces, Susie C. Guerreiro(Richard Guerreiro), Carmen Corrington and Carla C. Atkinson and several grand nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his friend and caretaker of 8 years, Rose Turner. A Graveside service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, June 6, 2008 at Macedonia Baptist Church Cemetery with Rev. Jimmy Flemming officiating.

Charles Ira Turner

March 1, 1916 - May 31, 2008