Jack Turnbull

Lt. Colonel Jack Turnbull (www.fanbase.com ( taken spring/summer 1944, North Pickenham, England. Scanned, retouched by Brian Mahoney 1/2008))

Jack Turnbull is a hero to me.  He was a National Lacrosse Hall of Famer, World War II veteran, Jack Turnbull award's namesake (best college attackman), and leader on and off the field. Born on June 30, 1910 in Baltimore, Maryland, Jack went to high school at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute where he was captain of the lacrosse team, class president, and played basketball and football, all in his senior year. When he was 18 he played in the 1928 Olympic games.

Jack attended college at Johns Hopkins University where he was a 3 time All American attackman for the Blue Jay lacrosse team, Turnbull is regarded by many as the best player to play the game, while at JHU he also played football and helped bring an ice hockey team to Hopkins. Turnbull was captain of the U.S Lacrosse team during the 1932 Summer Olympics.  At the next Olympics he was a member of the U.S Field Hockey team where "he was invited to Hitler's box and witnessed first-hand the dictator's infamous snubbing of Jesse Owens," wrote James J. Mahoney, an Army Air Force buddy.

Jack enlisted in the Maryland National Guard as an aviation cadet and he was later commissioned as a Second Lieutenant on June 24, 1940 at the age of 30. The Maryland National Guard was mobilized just before the U.S entry into World War II. Jack rose in the ranks quickly, he was a Lieutenant Colonel by 1944, the year he died from injuries sustained form an accident when his B-24 flew through a very bad storm after a bombing run in Belgium.

I have always had a respect for those in the military, and especially for those who die while in service, his actions on the lacrosse field, in the military and as a person give me no choice but to look up to him, I consider him a hero to me, every time I hear about the Jack Turnbull Award winner I reflect on who that person is, if they're actually like Jack on and off the field, or if they just play like him. I hope that all the Jack Turnbull Award winners realize what it means to represent Jack Turnbull; his character, honor, service, and team work.