Name Christian Osepins Awards Medal of Honor | Unit USS Fortune Rank Seaman | |
Allegiance United States of America | ||
Service/branch United States Navy | ||
Christian Osepins (born 1858, date of death unknown) was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor.
Biography
Born in 1858 in the Netherlands, Osepins immigrated to the United States and joined the Navy from New York. By May 7, 1882, he was serving as a Seaman on the USS Fortune. On that day, while Fortune was at Hampton Roads, Virginia, he and another sailor, Ordinary Seaman Johannes Rouning, jumped overboard and rescued Gunner's Mate James Walters from drowning.
For this action, both Osepins and Rouning were awarded the Medal of Honor two and a half years later, on October 18, 1884. Osepins had not claimed his medal as of 1898, and the decoration remained in the possession of the Navy Department.
Osepins's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
For jumping overboard from the U.S. Tug Fortune, 7 May 1882, at Hampton Roads, Va., and rescuing from drowning James Walters, gunner's mate.