Military Football During WW2

[RiverDog]

One day, just for the hell of it, I decided to do an internet search on my dad, Merlin Morehouse, not exactly a common name even for his time. After going through a couple of links on my nephew who is an MD and was named after my dad, I stumbled onto the below.

My dad was inducted in November of 1944 into the Navy, and at one point, was assigned to a Marine Corps base in Klamath Falls, OR. Dad was a very good athlete, all state halfback in football, ran the 100 yard dash in 10.0 in track. He told me a lot about his time in the service, but he never mentioned that he had played football while he was in, so this search result was a huge surprise to me. One of my good friends, a 30 year career Navy man, was unaware that they had such a robust football program during the war.

Anyhow, I just thought it interesting and worth sharing. In the picture, my dad is on the far left.

1944 Klamath Falls Marine Barracks football team - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[sutz]

Cool story!

 

[SonicHawk]

Your dad would have been a world record holder in 1944.

 

[RiverDog]

Your dad would have been a world record holder in 1944.

Not hardly. I think you're confusing the 100-yard dash with the 100-meter dash. Big difference.

TSSAAsports.com :: Home of the TSSAA Championships

Learn more about upcoming championship events and see in-depth history on high school sports in Tennessee.

tssaasports.com

 

[SonicHawk]

Not hardly. I think you're confusing the 100-yard dash with the 100-meter dash. Big difference.

TSSAAsports.com :: Home of the TSSAA Championships

Learn more about upcoming championship events and see in-depth history on high school sports in Tennessee.

tssaasports.com

You're right. Still brutally fast!!

 

[RiverDog]

You're right. Still brutally fast!!

And that was on a clay track and in pretty rudimentary cleats. He won first in 5 events in the WA high school regional track meet, which included two relay teams, in 1943, but due to the war, they didn't have a state meet.

Speaking of the 100-yard dash, the best high school athlete I ever saw once ran the 100-yard dash in intramurals in 10.0...in tennis shoes and on grass. I think Bob Hayes ran it in 9.1 or 9.0, but that was a quarter century later in the late 60's with much better equipment and running surfaces.

 

[Hollandhawk]

What an incredible find! It must have been such a pleasant surprise to discover that your dad, Merlin Morehouse, played football while he was in the Navy—something he never mentioned to you. Seeing him on the far left in the picture must bring back so many memories. If you enjoy this kind of unexpected discovery. It's fascinating to learn about the robust sports programs they had during the war; who would have thought that such things were happening back then?

This is written like AI

I do like your story about your dad though RiverDog!

 

[RiverDog]

This is written like AI

I do like your story about your dad though RiverDog!

Could be. There are just two posts by this poster, which is why I didn't reply.

Thanks for the kudos about the story.

 

[Seahawks Guy]

Could be. There are just two posts by this poster, which is why I didn't reply.

Thanks for the kudos about the story.

His other post is agreeing with me that the Mavericks will win the championship, so he must be pretty smart.

 

[Threedee]

Army had some of its best players during WWII, while, simultaneously playing against colleges whose biggest talent had been emptied out to go serve. Since the military wanted to keep cadets in school where it viewed them as having the greatest utility, this made for some lopsided Army victories in 1944 and 1945.