Robert M. McTureous, Jr.

Robert Miller McTureous, Jr.
Pvt Robert M. McTureous, Jr., Medal of Honor recipient
Born	(1924-03-26)March 26, 1924 Altoona, Florida
Died	June 11, 1945(1945-06-11) (aged 21) DOW suffered on Okinawa
Place of burial	initially the 2nd Marine Division Cemetery on Saipan Later reinterred in Glendale Cemetery, Umatilla, Florida
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1944-1945
Rank	Private
Unit	3rd Battalion 29th Marines
Battles/wars	World War II *Battle of Okinawa
Awards	Medal of Honor Purple Heart

Robert Miller McTureous, Jr. (March 26, 1924-June 11, 1945) had been a United States Marine for only nine months when on June 7, 1945, on Okinawa, although critically wounded, he instantly risked his own life to divert fire from a group of his wounded comrades. He died at sea four days later of massive wounds and loss of blood. For his brave actions, McTureous was awarded his nation's highest military decoration — the Medal of Honor.

Robert Miller McTureous, Jr., was born in Altoona, Florida on March 26, 1924. He attended the primary schools of Altoona and graduated from high school at Umatilla, Florida, in 1941. He attended Brewton-Parker Institute at Mount Vernon, Georgia, for one year majoring in mathematics and was on the football and baseball teams. Also participating in softball, tennis and boxing, he also played the trombone, sang with the Glee Club and with the Double Quartet while at Brewton-Parker. His hobby was building model airplanes and, in 1942, he served as a Sunday School Superintendent.

Returning to Altoona, he went to work as a night watchman in an orange-packing house at Umatilla for three months. Classified as 4F by his local Draft Board, he looked for a better job so he could raise enough money to have surgery to correct his disability. Two operations were necessary and the young man underwent them always with the view of getting into the service when he was able. For the last eight months that he was a civilian, he worked as a rodman on a surveying team, engaged in road construction for the Florida State Highway Department. Examined again in August 1944, he was found fit and his induction into the United States Marine Corps followed on August 31, 1944.

Private McTureous was sent to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, for his recruit training where he qualified as a sharpshooter with both the M1 Garand and the Browning Automatic Rifle by virtue of his 291 and 112 scores, respectively. In his General Classification Test, Pvt McTureous recorded a neat 132 while his Mechanical Aptitude Test was accomplished with a score of 131.