Lt. William Turner
January 2006dkfjd
Lt. Bill Turner left Canada Post to go to Afghanistan.
Lt. Turner killed April 22, 2006.
______________________________________
“Hi, my name is Bill, and I'm here to help you."
That was Lt. Bill Turner's favourite way of introducing himself
to the dozens of ordinary people he met during his difficult and dangerous three
months as a Civilian-Military Co-operation officer in Afghanistan. It was
Turner's job to accompany combat officers into a village or a district, and sit
down with local elders, sometimes over tea and figure out what the village
needed. Sometimes the request he heard came from children. “One of the most
popular things we get asked for is kites", Turner said in an interview.
The fact that a man who tried to bring clean water to dispossessed villagers and
find kites for their children speaks volumes about Bill. " Over here, if I can
make a small difference in one person's life -- in a child's life especially --
my time in Afghanistan will have been worth it,” he said.
Turner stated in an interview, "The Taliban banned kites. But the kids here just
love them”. Therefore, Turner decided to put in an order from home---kites and
soccer balls for kids. However, on April 22, he and three other Canadian
soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb.
|