This "empty chair" sits at the table which is the life of Craig Thompson:
Ken Turner
I
went through Infantry NCOC in 1967-68 (first cycle -- Class 12-68).
During
the Fort Benning phase, one of my good friends was Ken Turner.
I
kept asking him over to dinner along with other friends but he
kept finding excuses not to come. My wife and daughter lived
in a trailer park not far off Victory Drive. I had to stay on
post during the week but could go home weekends.
Finally
the Sunday before our graduation day, my wife cooked a turkey
and we invited a whole bunch of my fellow NCOCs over for a graduation
dinner.
Once
again Ken turned us down. But I pushed and found out why.
Turner
was a black kid from the South and he was afraid of the consequences
of associating with white folks.
After
graduation (March 4, 1968), I went off for OJT at Fort Gordon.
Turner
went off to Fort Polk.
Never
saw him again.
Turner
was KIA on November 17, 1968 -- fighting for a country where
he was afraid to go to a friend's house because of the color
of his skin.