Lieutenant Colonel Robert R. (Bob) Turner

Lieutenant Colonel Robert R. (Bob) Turner. Citizen Soldier. Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Robert R. (Bob) Turner was born on 10 August 1934 in Coleman, Texas, and graduated from Mozelle High School in 1951. He enlisted in the 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard on 28 September 1952. Within 16 years he achieved the rank of Sergeant First Class. In 1968 he transferred to the 490th Civil Affairs Company in Abilene, Texas, where he graduated from Officers' Candidate School. In 1983 he graduated from the US Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. As a Lieutenant Colonel, Bob had the responsibility of negotiating logistical needs during the Cold War for the possible war between the United States and the USSR. These complex negotiations between the US, NATO, and the Federal Republic of Germany were challenging for this former "sheep herder" from Texas. His final three years were on an active duty tour in Germany. The Federal Republic of Germany flew their Consulate General to Abilene in 1989 to present LTC Turner the Bundesrepublik's "Ehrenkreuz der Bundeswehr in Silber" for prestigious service. Bob retired from the US Army in September, 1987, with a total of 35 years of service to this great country. Simultaneously, Bob was living a "semi-normal" life in the Voss community and the State of Texas. He was farming and ranching and at one point was maintaining 1000 sheep and 100 head of cows. He was also the musical director and Sunday school teacher at Voss and then Gouldbusk United Methodist Church, and he served on the local school board. He would later become the vice president of the Texas Farm Bureau. Bob has served on numerous boards related to agriculture and received many, many prestigious awards including Texas A&M University's Man of the Year in Texas Agriculture in 2001. In 1990, Bob was elected as state representative for Brown and 16 other counties in the Texas House of Representatives. He served for six terms. He served on the Texas House Natural Resources Committee, Military Affairs Committee, and served a number of years as Chairman of the House Committee on Public Safety. In 2003, Bob decided not to seek reelection and became his own lobbying company known as "Rural Issues Consulting" where he would become "The voice" of rural Texas, assisting great organizations such as the Independent Cattle Raisers Association, Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association, Texas Poultry Foundation, Earthmoving Contractors Association of Texas, Texas Forestry Association, the city of Brownwood, and many other wonderful organizations. LTC Turner was still actively engaged in the cattle business and owned and lived on his great grandfather's home place in Voss, Texas, until he passed away on 19 June 2022. Bob was truly a citizen soldier.