Sadly, for all too many of us, we’ve lost sight of the purpose of Memorial Day. We think of it as the unofficial kickoff of summer “time to open up the swimming pool, fire up the backyard grill, and gas up the car for the first warm-weather road trip.
At this time when we should remember and honor those who have served our country in the military, it’s an especially appropriate time to acknowledge the contributions of those who once were amateur wrestlers.
After all, there’s a powerful link between the sport of wrestling and warfare that goes back centuries. That link continues today; modern soldiers are still being schooled in wrestling and other personal combat techniques.
Even folks who don’t know the difference between a takedown and a touchdown “or confuse NCAA-sanctioned wrestling with what goes on in the WWE “may be aware of the amateur wrestling backgrounds of Greg “Pappy” Boyington, leader of the “Black Sheep Squadron” during World War II”¦ Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander in Chief of Operations for Desert Storm in the early 1990s”¦ and Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, who, after winning an Illinois high school state wrestling title, was a three-year starter at Princeton University.
A number of all-time great wrestlers and coaches found time to serve their country in the military, including Bill Koll (three-time NCAA champ for Iowa State Teachers College (now Northern Iowa) in the 1940s who then coached at his alma mater and at Penn State)… Dan Hodge (who served in the Navy before becoming a three-time college champ at the University of Oklahoma 1955-1957)… Ken Leuer (1956 NCAA champ for the University of Iowa who is now considered to be the father of the modern Army Rangers program)… Doug Blubaugh (1960 U.S. Olympic gold medallist)… Tommy Evans (long-time coach of the Oklahoma Sooners)… and J Robinson (current head coach at the University of Minnesota).
Then there are stories of former wrestlers whose heroic actions at time of war saved the lives of others. Here are some examples:
- Dale Henson, two-time Big Ten champ and 1939 NCAA titlewinner (and Outstanding Wrestler of the championships), entered military service while a senior at the University of Minnesota in 1939. He was a co-pilot of a B-17 bomber that was shot down over the South Pacific in October 1942.
- Tom Norris, a two-time ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) champ at the University of Maryland , also served as a Navy SEAL in the Vietnam war. Disguised as a Vietnamese, his heroic actions rescued pilots who were shot down over Vietnam, despite having been shot in the head. Norris later was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
- Ray Mendoza, a Big Ten conference heavyweight finalist for Ohio State in 1993 and alternate for the U.S. Olympic team for the 1996 Atlanta Games, was a major in the U.S. Marines when he was struck down by a roadside bomb in Iraq in November, 2004.
- Doug Zembiec earned All-American honors for the U.S. Naval Academy at 177 pounds at the 1995 NCAAs. Known as “the Lion of Fallujah, “Zembiec was a rifle company commander who led 168 Marines in the first conventional ground assault on Fallujah, Iraq in April 2004, where he earned the nickname “Lion of Fallujah. “Zembiec was killed in May 2007 while commanding a raid on insurgent forces in Baghdad.
As you enjoy a relaxing Memorial Day holiday weekend, take time to remember those who served our country with pride and distinction”¦ including those who, before engaging in combat to defend our freedoms, once engaged in combat on the college wrestling mat.
To learn more about the mat-and-military connection, read Glory Beyond the Sport: Wrestling and the Military, written by Roger Moore, with contributions by Jay Hammond, Jamie Moffatt, and Don Sayenga, published in 2009 by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum in Stillwater, Oklahoma. To purchase a copy, visit the Hall of Fame & Museum web site at www.wrestlinghalloffame.org, or call (405) 377-5243.
Resources
InterMat Rewind article about Glory Beyond the Sport
Wrestling Gear
