John Iglehart Turnbull (June 30, 1910 – October 20, 1944) was an American

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

player and 1965 inductee into the

National Lacrosse Hall of Fame The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, is located in Sparks, Maryland at the USA Lacrosse headquarters. Prior to moving to its present location in 2016, the hall of fame and museum was located in Baltimore, Maryland, on the Homewood camp ...

. He lends his name to the

Jack Turnbull Award The "Lt. Col. J. I. Turnbull Award"''Go to' (box title is "2009 USILA Coaches of the Year Announced") ''and then scroll down'' to the lower box, entitled "2009 USILA Special Awards". The fourth regular award listed is: "Lt. Col. J. I. Turnbull Award ...

, given to the nation's best collegiate attackman.

Biography

Jack Turnbull was born on June 30, 1910, in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. He attended

Baltimore Polytechnic Institute The Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, colloquially referred to as BPI, Poly, and The Institute, is a U.S. public high school founded in 1883. Established as an all-male manual trade / vocational school by the Baltimore City Council and the Balti ...

(Poly), where he was class president his senior year. He was the captain of Poly's 1926

team and played on the football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

teams as well. At the age of 18, he performed at the playoffs for the 1928 Olympic games. Turnbull attended

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

, where he played on the 1932 team. He graduated from Hopkins with a bachelor's degree in engineering after only three years. Turnbull was named an All-American each of his 3 years on the

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse team represents Johns Hopkins University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college lacrosse. Since 2015, the Blue Jays have represented the Big Ten Conference. Overview The ...

team and is widely regarded as one of the best to ever play the game. At Hopkins, Turnbull also played football and helped establish an ice hockey team. He was captain of the U.S. lacrosse team during the 1932 Summer Olympics and remained active in sports as a member of the Mount Washington Lacrosse Club. Four years later, he was a member of the U.S. field hockey team at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, during which he met Adolf Hitler. Turnbull enlisted in the

Maryland National Guard The Maryland Military Department (MMD) is a department of the State of Maryland directed by the adjutant general of Maryland. The Maryland Military Department consists of the: *State Operations section, which manages fiscal and administrative du ...

as an aviation cadet and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on June 24, 1940. He was mobilized along with the rest of the

in February 1941, just prior to the U.S. entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. During the war he quickly rose in rank, and by 1944 he was a lieutenant colonel. On October 20, 1944 he died of injuries sustained two days earlier, when his

B-24 The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

crashed in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

after a mid-air collision while returning from a bombing run over

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. * Stats are incomplete

References

External links

*
Lacrosse Hall of Fame BioMaryland Military Historical SocietyArticle about World War II serviceHigh Resolution Photo of Jack TurnbullUSILA 1930 Men’s All-AmericansUSILA 1931 Men’s All-AmericansUSILA 1932 Men’s All-Americans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turnbull, Jack 1910 births 1944 deaths Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse players Lacrosse players from Baltimore Players of American football from Baltimore Military personnel from Baltimore Baltimore Polytechnic Institute alumni 20th-century American engineers Olympic lacrosse players for the United States Lacrosse players at the 1932 Summer Olympics Mount Washington Lacrosse Club players Johns Hopkins Blue Jays football players United States Army Air Forces personnel killed in World War II National Guard (United States) officers United States Army Air Forces colonels Olympic field hockey players for the United States Field hockey players at the 1936 Summer Olympics Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium Aviators killed by being shot down Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1944 Maryland National Guard personnel Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium

Biography

See also

References

External links