Buckeye athlete and Korean War hero
I took interest in a story today in CNN about the first African-American aviator (http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/27/us/brown-hudner-devotion-korean-war/index.html).
He died just 8 days after the famous Ohio State - Michigan Snow Bowl game in 1950, trapped in his fighter. His heroism is something to remember this week.
Brown chose to attend Ohio State, following his hero Jesse Owens. To make ends meet, he worked at Lazarus downtown and at the Pennsylvania Railroad depot.
Buckeye athlete? According to several publications, he was a member of Buckeye football, basketball and track and field teams in 1944-1945, after which he took advantage of a naval aviator program through the University. He was the first African-American naval aviator and died after being shot down in Korea and being trapped in his fighter while providing air cover for ground troops (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_L._Brown).
Thomas J. Hudner Jr., a white aviator in his squadron and his friend, crash landed beside him to try and help his escape but was unable even with the help of a helicopter crew. Hudner won the Medal of Honor for putting his life at risk in the unsuccessful attempt to save Brown. Hudner died
I cannot find a roster for the 1944 or 1945 football teams, but he does bear a strong resemblance to #87 in those team photos below. That number is worn by a white player in 1943 and is not worn in the 1946 picture.
He does not appear in the 1944 Ohio State basketball Western Conference Championship photo, but I think this might be the 1943-1944 team on which he would not have played. I cannot find a roster or photograph of the basketball team from the following years. He is listed on Wikipedia as a prominent Buckeye (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ohio_State_University_people#Military).
He is a Buckeye hero, regardless of whether he played on the 1944 national championship football team.
Given multiple reports that he played for Ohio State and the possibility of him being shown in the photographs above, I have started this thread in the Alumni folder. If it proves that #87 was not him and that the multiple reports are incorrect, then we should move this to the Open Discussion Forum.
Given the notable abilities of BP to investigate such things, I leave this to the Board to explore.
I took interest in a story today in CNN about the first African-American aviator (http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/27/us/brown-hudner-devotion-korean-war/index.html).
He died just 8 days after the famous Ohio State - Michigan Snow Bowl game in 1950, trapped in his fighter. His heroism is something to remember this week.
Brown chose to attend Ohio State, following his hero Jesse Owens. To make ends meet, he worked at Lazarus downtown and at the Pennsylvania Railroad depot.
Buckeye athlete? According to several publications, he was a member of Buckeye football, basketball and track and field teams in 1944-1945, after which he took advantage of a naval aviator program through the University. He was the first African-American naval aviator and died after being shot down in Korea and being trapped in his fighter while providing air cover for ground troops (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_L._Brown).
Thomas J. Hudner Jr., a white aviator in his squadron and his friend, crash landed beside him to try and help his escape but was unable even with the help of a helicopter crew. Hudner won the Medal of Honor for putting his life at risk in the unsuccessful attempt to save Brown. Hudner died
I cannot find a roster for the 1944 or 1945 football teams, but he does bear a strong resemblance to #87 in those team photos below. That number is worn by a white player in 1943 and is not worn in the 1946 picture.
He does not appear in the 1944 Ohio State basketball Western Conference Championship photo, but I think this might be the 1943-1944 team on which he would not have played. I cannot find a roster or photograph of the basketball team from the following years. He is listed on Wikipedia as a prominent Buckeye (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ohio_State_University_people#Military).
He is a Buckeye hero, regardless of whether he played on the 1944 national championship football team.
Given multiple reports that he played for Ohio State and the possibility of him being shown in the photographs above, I have started this thread in the Alumni folder. If it proves that #87 was not him and that the multiple reports are incorrect, then we should move this to the Open Discussion Forum.
Given the notable abilities of BP to investigate such things, I leave this to the Board to explore.
