A member of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, Turner was wounded in 1989 by a sniper from the army of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Turner, while holding one of his fellow soldiers who was shot and killed, had his own helmet pierced by a bullet, which fractured his skull.
Following his subsequent service on the front lines in Operation Desert Storm in Iraq in 1990–1991, Turner lost his way in civilian life, not able to fully leave his military experience behind him. He found his next calling in 2012 when he read about U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills, also of the 82nd, who had stepped on a landmine in Afghanistan and lost both his arms and legs.
When they heard about Mills’s sacrifice, Rick and his wife, Tancy, got on the phone and started calling friends in the biker community to raise money for Mills’s recovery and for his family. What started as an effort to get 100 bikers to donate $50 each ended up with massive donations coming from out of the woodwork.
The Turners raised over $30,000 for Mills. Speaking of the fundraiser, Tancy told the Observer, “Honest, we started with nothing. But in no time, we had credit card machines, drinks, police escorts, food, everything. Donated. It just all fell into place, like it was supposed to happen.”
For Mills, who was still recovering from multiple surgeries and coming to terms with the loss of his military career and his limbs, the Turners’ efforts couldn’t have come at a better time. “[T]here’s this brother in arms with a big heart already reaching out, wanting to help,” Mills said. “It’s difficult to explain how much that kind of support meant to me at that time in my life.”
SOAH is as a non-profit dedicated to veterans’ rehabilitation that focuses on disabled veterans like Travis Mills particularly, who may have lost limbs or sustained permanent injuries.
“These guys are coming home from war in all kinds of shape,” Turner explains. “But they’re not giving up, and we’re helping them fight.” He acknowledges that the biggest killer isn’t the injuries they sustained in combat; it’s often PTSD.
SOAH decided to make Jackel the posthumous Hero of the Year for 2018. The group regularly focus their attention on preventing veteran suicide. “PTS is very real,” Tancy asserts. “It is the invisible wound.”
In addition to hosting annual galas, which have featured speakers such as Noah Galloway, the first double-amputee veteran to perform on “Dancing With the Stars,” the organization has retrofitted veterans’ houses and yards to compensate for their mobility issues.
The important work that SOAH does has made a huge difference in the lives of veterans returning home. Their very first Hero of the Year, Travis Mills, has gone on to write a bestselling book about his story and created his own foundation for disabled veterans, paying forward the love and support that the Turners bestowed upon him.
As for how the general public can support these wounded warriors, donations are, of course, appreciated, but for the Turners, they say the most important thing is to “let them know you appreciate them.”
