US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

Introduction
same time I could see the relentless tenacity with which he cracked his whip
over those who formed his team. He drove them ruthlessly but none more
so than himself, as Admiral Dyer clearly brings out.
If I were to measure the traits that make a leader succeed, I would place
at the top courage and drive (the will to win), faith in Divine guiding
power, preparation and knowledge, integrity. If a leader has these, few
things short of death can stop him. If to them he adds generosity of spirit,
compassion and patience with people, overlaid on his own impatience to
succeed, he will be greatly loved.
Though often lacking this last noble trait, Admiral Turner had the qualities
necessary to succeed to an eminent degree. Nothing fazed him. Difficulty and
danger stirred him to his most brilliant endeavor, He seemed to fear neither
death nor the devil and hurled himself into the forefront of the greatest peril,
On one of the operations I remember being shown by the flag censor an outgoing
letter from a sailor on the flagship. It read something like this, “We
are getting ready to sail on a big operation. I don’t know where we are going
but this is probably your last letter from me. Terrible Turner is on board
and where he goes you are lucky if you come back.”
Admiral Turner obviously had compassion and understanding of men.
His own swift grasp of the whole picture, however, his customary near
perfection in action, his relentless urge to hit ever faster and harder, resulted
in lashing impatience against those who couldn’t steam at his flank speed
18 hours a day.
The United States needed a leader of his capacity in the rough, tough
and complex amphibious game in the Pacific. After victory, we also needed
to get a clear account of this man and his methods against the unknown
crises the future would bring. Years ago upon relieving Rear Admiral
John B. Heffernan in this job, I found an excellent program of command
studies underway on two of our senior naval leaders who had played key
roles in shaping events from World War I on. To these we happily were
able to add many others in full or partial studies by joining in the Columbia
University Oral History Program through the generous aid of Allan Nevins.
In addition to these oral history studies, some leaders covered personal
recollections of the momentous events of World War II at least in part by
published works as in the case of Admirals Leahy, King, Halsey and
Mitscher. Admirals Nimitz, Spruance and Turner, three titans in any history
of war, steadfastly refused to record anything. Each had personal reasons
that repeated efforts could not shake. We kept trying. At last when we found
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