HISTORY

Let’s Remember Some Trojans On Memorial Day

Since it is Memorial Day, here are a few USC related stories:

Foy Draper is best known for winning a gold medal on the historic 1936 Olympics relay team and being a world-record holder in the 100-yard dash.

But he also gave his life for his country. Draper and two crew members died on Jan. 4, 1943 while he piloted an A-20 twin-engine attack bomber in The Battle of Kasserine Pass

The pass was a 2-mile-wide gap in the Grand Dorsal chain of the Atlas Mountains in Tunisia. This was the first campaign in which the American Army engaged the armed forces of Nazi Germany, commanded under General Erwin Rommel.

Draper was one of the 3,300 American troops killed or wounded in the battle. He is buried in the North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial in Carthage, Tunisia. The battle also is vividly mentioned in the 1970 film, “Patton.”

One other factoid: Draper was USC senior class president.

Draper, of course, is not in the USC Hall of Fame. Just another of the many oversights.

Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, Foy Draper and Frank Wycoff were members of the U.S. relay team at the 1936 Olympics. Draper and Wycoff were members of the USC track team. Metcalfe got his master’s degree at USC in 1939.

  • A group of USC students joined the Army Reserve Corps on campus around the outset of World War II and six weeks later left their classes when they were called to active duty in 1942.

They called themselves “The Raiders” and among the members was USC football player Don Clark, who was 20 when he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He lost six fillings in his teeth when a German 88 mm artillery shell went off near him. Clark returned to USC and played in 1946-47, became an assistant coach for five seasons and was USC head coach from 1957-59. He also hired John McKay as an assistant (and Al Davis).

Another member was pole vaulter Vern Wolfe, who cleared an impressive 14-feet (before fiberglass poles) for the Trojans. Wolfe became a paratrooper for 3.5 years and returned to USC after the war to get his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. He then became a high school coach and in 1963 was hired as the track coach at USC, where he won seven NCAA titles before he retired in 1984.

Other members of the Raiders included Pat Hillings, who went to the South Pacific and returned to become a U.S. congressman from 1951-59. And Russell Chesley, who became football coach at East Los Angeles College.

  • Gordon Gray joined the Navy and attended USC under the V-12 program. A natural athlete, Gordon played football at USC. His football career was interrupted when he was deployed to serve on a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Pacific. After World War II ended, he resumed his football career at USC. Gray featured in three Rose Bowl games and caught touchdown passes in two games. He graduated with honors in 1948.
  • Pvt. Tony Goux died at the Battle of the Bulge. He was the father of USC assistant coach Marv Goux, who was only 12 when his father died.

22 thoughts on “Let’s Remember Some Trojans On Memorial Day”

    1. KAM: On Monday, Mainstream Moderate D e m o c r a t Minneapolis Mayor Frey took to X and posted a lengthy, heartfelt tribute — not to a fallen soldier, but to George Floyd, since May 25 is also the sixth anniversary of when Floyd died. Patriotic Americans were visiting cemeteries, laying wreaths, and reflecting on the price of freedom.

      DON: Frey chose to honor a drug addict who died of a fentanyl overdose, sparking violent riots, using the day to push a racial justice narrative.

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      1. As Mayor Frey once said “I can have any birthday I want to, I can be any gender I want to”….

        #IGuessHeCanHaveAnyMemorialDayHeWantsToo

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  2. Scott, these stories are you at your best. Just telling factual stories about real Trojans. When I attended USC, there were still wooden barracks buildings being used as classrooms due to the many veterans who were on campus studying under the GI bill in the late 40’s and early 50’s. If you attended class or went to an office in one of those buildings, you felt a part of WWII history and the men and women who served in those buildings. I was at USC during the presidential campaign of 1960 and was fortunate to hear both John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon give campaign speeches in front of Doheny. USC is a school of great memories. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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  3. KAM: The Elitist Fake News Media don’t often pass up on an opportunity to convey their disappointment in the American people, which is part of what makes them the Elitist Media. Memorial Day is no different, as CBS’s Margaret Brennan closes out an interview of two Medal of Honor recipients by trying to get them to bash America.

    DON: But our heroes rebuff this weak enticement, and instead offer a glimpse of the kind of character our nation needs to see more of:

    MARGARET BRENNAN: And before I let you go, we are coming up on this 250th anniversary of the American experience. I know I can’t ask you a question like, are you optimistic? There’s no way that two Medal of Honor winners could say they’re not optimistic. So what specifically makes you optimistic? Because this country, at times, can feel dark, these days, there’s a lot of darkness. What makes you feel optimistic?

    WILL SWENSON: Well, ultimately, because we’re in Washington, D.C., and everything revolves around politics, we have to remember that politics aren’t everything. American lives continue on. Children are born, children go to school. Lives are achieved. Dreams are achieved. This country is a great place. It’s not politics. It’s not just what’s the news bites coming off of media. Ultimately, we continue forward as a country, continually imperfect, continually evolving forward, always trying to achieve a more perfect union. That’s what’s important to remember, what we can achieve aspirationally. No other place in history, time or on this planet have ever gotten to where we are today. We need to be proud of that, and we need to remember that is what we stay focused on, what we can be.

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  4. memorial Day is about remembering those who gave their lives while defending the United States of America. It is not about athlete to have died. Get your head right Scott!

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  5. KAM: -So in Tunisia during WWII our fresh-shaven American men are thrown to the seasoned German army, lying in wait, resulting in 3300 U.S. men dead

    DON: Memorial Day for me is recalling memories of all the dead but especially those in the Armed Forces; they were told what to do and they did it, a horrilble sacrifice

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    1. …and sometimes “what they’re told to do” amounts to suicide. I had a Viet Nam vet pal at USC –one of the smartest guys I ever knew —who told me he never felt more powerless in his life than the day his commanding officer told him “You wanna know why we’re going out tomorrow? I’ll tell ya why! We’re going out cuz President JOHNSTON wants us to!”

      #HisLifeWasInTheHandsOfAGuyWhoDidn’tKnowThePrez’sName

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  6. KAM: THEY’VE LEARNED NOTHING FROM 2024: California D e m o c r a t Governor Candidate Tom Steyer Says “I’m Totally in Favor of T r a n s Athletes in High School!”

    DON: Not only do people not want t r a n s athletes in high school sports, people don’t want minors to be allowed to transition genders at all.

    The 2024 election made the public’s position on this crystal clear but the Mainstream Moderate Democrats just don’t care. You must wear the ribbon!

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  7. DON: Dwelling on that is too somber- what you got in sports?

    KAM: In basketball it is all about Wemby, or however they call him. Never seen a guy like that on a basketball court. As they used to say Down South, “That boy can jump”

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    1. KAM: Mainstream Moderate Cowardly Gabby D e m o c r a t House candidate Maureen Galindo pledges to send ‘American Zionists’ to internment camp!

      DON: Antisemitism is a D e m o c r a t value.

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    2. Wemby has the hands, coordination, and finesse of Kareem but is about 5 inches taller. And he can shoot from 3 point range and dribble. Never been anyone like him. He is unstoppable now and he won’t reach his peak until another 3 years. Wonder what Wilt would have done against him. I think you have to push the kid around and use superior strength against him.

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  8. KAM: It’s practically June already is it too early to get in to the college football spirit- who you like in 2026?

    DON: “The usual suspects,” and one surprise Cinderella team

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    1. I hope you are not referring to USC as a Cinderella team. All the national championships, rose bowl victories, Heisman trophy winners, first round draft choices, hall or famers, ect, we will never accept the Cinderella label.

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    2. A lot of people say Oregon….a lot of people say Ohio State…. a lot of people say Indiana …

      #GuessWhichTeamPlaysAllThree?

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  9. Wolfman this is one of your best columns. Keep up the great work . Another month or so and we can start talking Trojan football. In the meantime let’s hope the Trojans deal out some pain in the TAM regional.

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    1. It’s amazing that Scott can invent fun stuff to talk about during the dog days of summer —most football blogs go on vacation ….

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  10. The Dow is dipping cuz some forces are still firing on our ships —dampening peace prospects…

    #SomeFolksCan’tTake”Yes”ForAnAnswer

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