Brother Roscoe Turner, 32° (1895–1970), Corinth Lodge 116, Corinth, Mississippi, was a pioneer American flier. Congress awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1952 but, unbelievably, the military turned down his application to become a pilot in World War I. After serving as a driver in the war, Turner went on to become the country's top barnstorming ace, operated the world's first high speed airline and held almost every air speed record of his day. The public, however, probably best knew him as the barnstorming pilot who traveled the country with his pet lion. The lion, Gilmore, was a promotion for the Gilmore Oil Company, which used a lion as its symbol. Turner was said even to sleep in the same room with Gilmore and pictures, perhaps staged, may support the claim.
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