b. 1847 Russian Empire. d. ?
DATE OF MOH ACTION: 02/1881 Toulon, France.
Born in 1847 in the Russian Empire, Turvelin immigrated to the United States and by February 1881 was serving as a seaman on the USS Trenton. Sometime during that month, while Trenton was at Toulon, France, Coxswain Augustus Ohlensen fell overboard and, because he could not swim, began to sink. Turvelin and another sailor, Ordinary Seaman John Davis, jumped into the water and rescued Ohlensen from drowning. For this action, both he and Davis were awarded the Medal of Honor three and a half years later, on October 18, 1884.
MOH CITATION:
For jumping overboard from the U.S.S. Trenton, at Toulon, France, February 1881, and rescuing from drowning Augustus Ohlensen, coxswain.
BURIAL LOCATION: UNKNOWN.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: UNKNOWN.