Robert M. McTureous Jr.

The Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military award, was presented to Pvt McTureous' parents at a ceremony in Altoona on August 7, 1946. The presentation was made by LtCol Alexander A. Vandegrift Jr., USMC, commanding officer, Marine Barracks, Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida, the son of the Marine Corps' Commandant Alexander Vandegrift.

After a ten-day furlough, his only one, the new Marine reported to the 4th Training Battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in November. One month later, he was assigned to the 46th Replacement Draft there, and in March 1945 that unit moved to Camp Pendleton, California. Pvt McTureous left the United States on March 11, 1945. En route to their destination, the Marines got a look at some of the places that had been making headlines since December 7, 1941. The first stop was Pearl Harbor and the next Eniwetok. They arrived and disembarked at Guam on March 31, 1945, and went into rigid combat training.

The island of Okinawa was invaded by U.S. Marines on April 1, 1945. When the need for replacements became apparent, Pvt McTureous' draft was sent. They arrived at Okinawa on May 15, 1945, and plunged into the fighting as a unit. On May 31, McTureous became attached to a permanent organization — rifle Company H, 3rd Battalion, 29th Marines (H/3/29) of the 6th Marine Division.

Pvt McTureous was evacuated to a hospital ship, the USS Relief, and given large quantities of blood in an attempt to save his life, but all efforts failed and on the morning of June 11, 1945 he died at sea. His remains were buried in the 2nd Marine Division Cemetery on Saipan. Later, in 1949, his remains were reinterred in Glendale Cemetery, Umatilla, Florida.

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.

Robert Miller McTureous Jr. (March 26, 1924 – June 11, 1945) was a United States Marine and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II.

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.