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Charles Fischer

WWII: When the Fighting Ducks Came Marching Home

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How did Oregon operate on the football field during WWII?  I thought it would be interesting to look at that on Memorial Day, and fortunately we have a FishDuck article to turn to.

 

Long-time history writer for FishDuck, Jim Maloney passed away in the last year, but he left us a ton of great historical articles in this section of the History of Oregon Football, in the massive Oregon Football Repository for us all to learn from.

 

This article shares some information about Our Beloved WWII Ducks that I did not know, and I offer my gratitude to Jim again for what he gave in time/research at no charge to this site over many years.

 

FISHDUCK.COM

www.ohsu.edu Oregon's 1942 football season had turned out to be a major disappointment, finishing 2-6 with a roster that had managed to beat the eventual Rose…

 

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Mr. FishDuck

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Great rewind, Charles.  Thanks.  Those were years that must be remembered.

 

Have a great Memorial Day, everyone.

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Whether receiving a medal or not the greatest generation who served and defeated tyranny, men and women alike, were all heroes.

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My Uncle George was on the Arizona... one of the first explosions knocked him overboard, and he survived. He was in the water for hours, using a floating spar he pushed around to assist in bringing injured to shore, then returning for others. 

 

His only major injury was the broken ankle he suffered when his oily boot slipped on the tailgate of the evac truck. It was his worst injury of the entire war, despite losing several other ships.

 

Dad was a starting D lineman on the Beaver football team that year. Within hours of learning about the attack  he, like millions of his compatriots, quit the team and enlisted in the army, eventually serving in Europe for the duration of the war.

 

When I was a boy, in the 60's, I remember sitting with many of the veteran survivors of that conflict, watching the movie "White Christmas"... I saw more than twenty of the toughest men and women I have ever known were crying openly as their memories were triggered by the film.

 

We may never fully understand what their sacrifices protected us from, but it's important to respect and honor that sacrifice.

 

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