Joseph Turner was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1913 and went on to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduating and receiving his commission as an officer in 1938. He rose to the rank of First Lieutenant and was allied with Second Lieutenant William Pierson in 1939. In February 1943, Turner participated in the Battle of Kasserine Pass alongside Pierson, who disobeyed orders to retreat and went to save his men who were trapped at the pass.