Colgate Football in the Armed Forces
Military drills at Colgate during World War I
Colgate has a rich history of its students going on to serve their country, and the football team is no different. The following list is currently under construction (and in no particular order yet), but will eventually list every Colgate Football player who has served their country in the armed forces. If you have any info to correct, or want to contact me, send an email to [email protected]...
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Jack Clifford
- Colgate football – 1942 - Played with Walter McQuade for 9 years, starting in grade school in Columbus, Ohio up until 1942 when they played together at Colgate their freshman year - His mother died mid-season in 1942 and Andy Kerr signed papers to become his legal guardian. A newspaper picked up on the story and said that Kerr had ‘adopted’ Clifford. Kerr kidded Clifford about it and started calling him ‘my boy’ to get a laugh out of him and help him recover from his mother’s passing - Clifford and McQuade both tried out for the Marines and Navy, but when one of them did not pass the tests the other backed out. They each passed the Army tests and went in together. - Inducted into the Army at Fort Harrison, Indiana in 1943 - Training at Camp Wolters, Texas in 1943 where he would receive the rank of Sargeant - Camp Wolters basketball team - 1943 - Both Clifford and McQuade tried for air cadet appointments but McQuade passed and Clifford did not. McQuade again tried to back out so they could continue to serve together, but the Army did not listen. - Clifford served in France in 1944 - Killed in action on August 24, 1944 in France - Walter McQuade was home in Columbus, Ohio waiting for an assignment and was visiting the Clifford house when they received the news that Jack had been killed. - “I can’t tell you what I’d have given to see that boy come back alive and well. And I wouldn’t have cared if he never played football again.” – Andy Kerr Walter ‘Bruff’ McQuade
- Colgate football – 1942, 1946 - Played with Jack Clifford for 9 years, starting in grade school in Columbus, Ohio up until 1942 when they played together at Colgate their freshman year - Clifford and McQuade both tried out for the Marines and Navy, but when one of them did not pass the tests the other backed out. They each passed the Army tests and went in together. - Inducted into the Army at Fort Harrison, Indiana in 1943 - Corporal in the US Army in World War II - Was home in Columbus, Ohio waiting for an assignment and was visiting the Clifford house when they received the news that Jack had been killed. - Physical training instructor in the Army Air Forces at Herington Air Field, Kansas in 1945 Robinson Billings
- Colgate football – 1934, 1935 - Colgate hockey – 1934, 1935, 1936 (2x captain) - Enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1939 - Received training at Parks Air College in St. Louis, Randolph and Kelly Fields in Texas, and Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland - Stationed in Great Falls, Montana where he ferried airplanes to Alaska and Russia - Transferred to the Pacific to fly the B-29 Superfortress - Lieutenant Colonel with the 468th Bombardment Group based in India and China - Tillman Durdin wrote a piece in the New York Times about flying on a bombing run with Billings that targeted Japanese bases in Central China in 1944 - Killed in action on January 11, 1945 - He was co-pilot on a bombing run from India to the Malay Peninsula near Singapore when his plane took fire from about 20 Japanese fighter planes. The attacks disabled the guns and damaged 2 of the 4 engines on the “Postville Express”. A shot through the nose of the plane hit Billings in the left thigh. (“Colonel, are you all right?” Billings nodded yes and said with a snicker, “Hope I don’t lose that leg, it’s a damn good leg.”) The fire in the engines was quickly weakening the wings and the crew prepared to bail out. (“Check your parachutes, they should include your jungle survival pack, and make sure you have your Webb belt around your waist. Keep an eye out for one another, so you have an idea where others are touching down. Once we hit the jungle floor, it will be impossible to see each other, so we need to get our bearings before hand. Don’t go shouting for one another, because we have no way of knowing if the Japs will be waiting. We’ll push east, deeper into the jungle, and hope for a rendezvous. This may be the last time we see each other. I don’t know what to say. I haven’t rehearsed anything. Good luck. May God be with us!”) Before they could jump, the wing collapsed and the plane went into a dive. Sgt Kundrat, who was working on Billings leg, and Billings did not survive the crash. Sgt Spratt survived the crash but died soon after from his injuries. The other members of the crew survived and hid in the jungle, but Captain Hansman was captured by the Japanese and executed in February 1945. Four others were captured and spent the rest of the war as POW’s. The three remaining crew members eluded capture with the help of guerillas. - http://www.468thbombgroup.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=edG2kKeUP%2F4%3D&tabid=65&mid=391 
Robinson Billings
Michael Joseph Hayes
- Colgate football – 1916 - Colgate track – 1916 - Colgate hockey – 1917, 1918 (captain) - Delta Upsilon - Skull and Scroll - Noted amateur boxer - Won commission at first officers training school in Plattsburgh, New York - 306th Infantry, Company F, Camp Upton - Camp Upton Hockey team coach - Camp Upton football team (played in Polo Grounds) - 1918 Millrose Games Half Mile in Full Equipment – 1st Place - 1918 Army Citation – First Lieutenant Michael J. Hayes, 306th infantry, while accompanying his company commander on the night of Aug 11-12, 1918, during a relief, assisted very materially his company commander during heavy shelling of high explosives by indicating to individual men where each could best seek shelter, to the utter disregard of his own personal safety. On Aug 14, 1918, with great courage and coolness, he led a patrol of three men and himself to the rescue of his company commander, who was lying approximately twenty yards in front of a German machine gun post of greatly superior numbers, and with great courage and dash attacked this machine gun post, inflicting several casualties with hand grenades and rifle fire, and drew heavy fire from machine guns and somehow managed to return with his patrol to safety. - The company commander he tried to rescue, Robert Porter Patterson, managed to escape later that night and went on to become Secretary of War from 1945-1947. - Killed in action on October 14, 1918 - He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest military award that can be given to a member of the Army. - Excerpt from his Distinguished Service Cross citiation: On 14 October First Lieutenant Hayes led his platoon forward into the attack with energy and courage, in the face of heavy artillery and machine-gun fire. In the face of direct fire from enemy machine-guns upon his platoon, disregarding his own personal safety, he went forward to reconnoiter and find cover for his men from which to continue the attack. In the performance of his courageous enterprise he was killed by machine gun fire. - Buried in Section 3, Grave 4250-NH of Arlington National Cemetery 
Michael Joseph Hayes
Don Wemple
- Colgate football – 1936, 1937, 1938 (captain) - 1939 East-West Shrine Game - 1941 - Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) - 1942 - Aviation cadet at Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama - In July 1942 he was transferred from Arcadia Field, Florida to Cochrane Field in Macon, Georgia after completing about 70 hours of solo flight training. - Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps - He was killed in June 1943 when his fighter was damaged by enemy fire travelling from India to China. He tried to fly it on one engine but crashed near his intended landing field in China. His Colgate football teammate and co-captain from 1938, John Lucy, was stationed at the field and was one of the first ones to reach the wreckage. Wemple was badly hurt and the rescuers were not able to free him from the plane immediately. After speaking with a chaplain, Wemple spoke his last words. He was asked how he was feeling and replied “I’m all right now, coach, put me back in the game.” 
Don Wemple (Right, with John Lucy)
Anthony ‘Tally’ LaBella
- Colgate football – did not letter - Member of the football team for two years, graduated in 1937 and enlisted in the Navy Air Force - Joined the Royal Canadian Air Force sometime after that and had the rank of Pilot Officer (about 15,000 Americans joined the Canadian forces prior to the US entering World War II, with 9,000 of them going to the RCAF. Great Britain and Canada recruited pilots after many were lost in the Battle of Britain in 1940) - Killed in a plane crash in Armstrong, Ontario, Canada on August 12, 1942 Oscar Carl ‘Oc’ Anderson
- Colgate football – 1914, 1915, 1916, 1919 - First Team All-American – 1916, 1917 (only military players selected by Walter Camp in 1917) - 1917 Camp Dix football (captain), and track - Served two years in France in World War I – 311th Infantry - Buffalo All-Americans (APFA, later the NFL) 1920-1922 - Suffered from emphysema due to a long history of smoking and the side effects of poisonous gas inhaled during his time on the line in France. Anderson referred to the condition as “hard to spell and expensive as hell” Joseph Brooks
- Colgate football – 1912, 1913, 1914 - Colgate track – 1912 - Williams College football – 1909, 1910 - Colgate football assistant coach – 1915 - Williams College head coach – 1916, 1919-1920 - Columbia College assistant coach – 1921 - His brother, Belvidere Brooks, was killed in action in France in World War I. His other brother, Bruce, also served in France in the war. - First Lieutenant and Captain in the Army in World War I - 150th Machine Gun Battalion, 42nd Division - Served in France with General Pershing’s expedition - Fought in the Battle of Chateau-Thierry, the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, and in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive - In charge of a raiding party into No Man’s Land in 1918. Returned to headquarters with several German prisoners, including one he carried underneath his arm. - “It all seemed to be a dream and I can’t realize yet that I have killed men with neither feeling nor compunction. Then it was kill or be killed and a Hun was born to be killed anyway so it really doesn’t matter.” – Joe Brooks letter to Professor Whitnall, 1918 - Married Alicia Patterson, the daughter of a Chicago publisher, in 1931. The engagement was a secret until Brooks crashed Patterson’s plane while flying from Chicago to New York. Motor failure forced him down near South Bend, Indiana and a gust of wind blew him into a tree. 
Larry Cabrelli
- Colgate football – 1938, 1939, 1940 - Philadelphia Eagles – 1941-1942 (team MVP), 1944-1947 (captain) - Philadelphia/Pittsburgh ‘Steagles’ – 1943 - Joined the military but was classified as 4F for a bad knee - Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach – 1948-1950, NFL Champions in 1948 and 1949 Joseph Duckworth
- Colgate football – 1946 - Harvard University – 1942 Air Corps ground school course - Captain in the Army Air Transport Command in World War II - Army All-Star football team – 1942 (defeated the Detroit Lions 12-0) - Air Transport Command Rockets football team – 1945 - Washington Redskins – 1947 Robert ‘Bob’ Orlando
- Colgate football – 1941, 1942, 1946 (captain) - Elected captain of 1943 Colgate football team. Assumed his captain duties upon returning to the team in 1946. 1947 East-West Shrine Game - Drafted in the 16th round of the 1947 NFL draft by the New York Giants - 1943 – training at Camp Grant, Illinois. Building T-219, Company D, 26th Medical Training Battalion - Played for the Camp Grant Warriors football team in 1943 - Kicked a 30 yard field goal with 5 seconds left in the game to help the Camp Grant Warriors defeat the University of Wisconsin 10-7 on September 25, 1943 - After 18 weeks of training at Camp Grant, Orlando moved on to Atlantic City’s England General hospital in 1944. He was one of five physical instructors at the hospitals convalescent facility at the Traymore Hotel. He helped supervise the athletic program designed to rehab the sick and wounded soldiers. - He suffered a ‘slight’ concussion in the 1946 Colgate game at Holy Cross. He was carried off on a stretcher and taken to St. Vincent’s Hospital after regaining consciousness on the sideline. Olav ‘Ole’ Kollevoll
- Colgate football – 1943 - Colgate hockey – 1943, 1944 (captain) - Colgate baseball – 1943, 1944 (captain) - Immigrated to Brooklyn, NY from Norway when he was 5 years old. He crossed the Atlantic on the SS Stavangerfjord (this has no real significance other than I like to say Stavangerfjord). - Played for 3 minor league baseball teams affiliated with the Boston Braves: Leavenworth Braves (1946), Evansville Braves (1947), Hartford Chiefs (1949). He also played 3 seasons for the Ogdensburg Maples (1949-1951). - US Men’s Ice Hockey National Team – 1947 World Championships, Prague, Czech Republic - Hockey and baseball coach at St. Lawrence University - Hockey, freshman football coach, and assistant athletic director at Colgate - Athletic director at Lafayette College for 25 years- Columbia University Midshipmen’s School – 1944 - Lieutenant in the US Navy in World War II - Commanded a PT reconnaissance boat in the Philippines James Gallo
- Colgate football – 1942 - Lieutenant in the US Army in World War II - Spent 54 days in combat at Bougainville in 1944 - In 1944 he was recovering in an Australian hospital from wounds he received in battle and a case of malaria 
Harold Cornelius
- Colgate football – 1917, 1919 - Freshman football team – 1916 (captain) - In 1917 he was training at New London, Connecticut with the Coast Guard on an elite submarine chasing fleet Hal Lahar
- Colgate football head coach – 1952-1956, 1962-1967 (also the athletic director during his second term as head coach) - University of Oklahoma football – 1938-1940 o 1938 Orange Bowl o 1940 team captain - Chicago Bears – 1941 - Lieutenant in the US Navy supply corps in the South Pacific during World War II - Buffalo Bills AAFC – 1946-1948(captain) - Resigned his position as Colgate athletic director in 1973 to take a position as assistant commissioner of the Southwest Conference Raymond ‘Razor’ Watkins
- Colgate football – 1915, 1916, 1919 - 1917 Mineola ATC (aviation training camp) football team - 1917 Army-Navy League Champion - 1928-32 Colgate hockey coach - Colgate freshman football coach 
Raymond 'Razor' Watkins
Charles Gauer
- Colgate football – 1941 - Philadelphia/Pittsburgh ‘Steagles’ – 1943 - Philadelphia Eagles – 1944-1945 - Assistant coach with the Eagles when they won the 1960 NFL championship - Joined the Navy for 4 months in 1942 as an Air Traffic Controlman at the Navy Pre-Flight school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Classified as 4F for a bad knee and ulcers Walter White
- Colgate football – 1943 - Enlisted in the Marine Corps following graduation in 1943 and served until his discharge in 1946 - Served in the Pacific in World War II - Saw action on the Solomon Islands, the Ryukyu Islands, and China - Received a Presidential Citation for bravery for his actions on Okinawa Shima. Also received a special commendation from the Marine Corps for “total disregard of his own life for his actions far above the call of duty.” Herschel Mosier
- Colgate football – 1920, 1921 - Served as alumni secretary and director of the Alumni Fund at Colgate - Commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve in 1942 - Served as a member of the Naval Aviation Cadet Selection Board in New York City - Left the Navy in late 1945 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander Henry ‘Hank’ Zittel
- Colgate football – 1940, 1941 - Freshman football team – 1938 - Freshman hockey team – 1938 - Intramural boxing champion – 1941, defeated teammate Jack Scott in the finals - Began training with the Marines in Quantico, Virginia in early 1942 - Served in Guadalcanal in late 1942 John Greer
- Colgate football – 1940, 1941, 1942 - Served in the Marines as a Second Lieutenant in World War II - Training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 1943 - Camp Lejeune football team – 1943 - Served on Tinian in the Mariana Islands in 1944. - His battalion executive officer on Tinian was Major LeRoy Hunt, another former Colgate football player - Captain in the Marines in the Korean War Edward ‘Ebba’ St. Claire
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1940 - Colgate basketball – 1942 - Colgate baseball - Pitched for the winning team in the American Legion championship game at Cooperstown in the baseball Centennial Celebration in 1939 - Member of College All-Star team that faced Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Monarchs at MacArthur Stadium in Syracuse - Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1942 - Major League debut with the Boston Braves in 1951 - Boston/Milwaukee Braves – 1951-1954 - New York Giants – 1954 (traded to the Giants with Bobby Thompson going back to the Braves) - Spent 18 months in the Army in World War II before receiving a medical discharge - Promoted to Corporal and Sergeant while training at Camp Hale in Colorado as part of the 10th Mountain Division Ski Troops in 1943 and 1944 Harry ‘Jud’ Sullivan
- Colgate football – 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 - Manager of the Colgate Tennis Association in 1913 - Football coach at St. Lawrence University from 1921-1924 - First Officers Training Camp at Plattsburgh, New York in 1915 - Attended the French artillery school in Saumur, France - Lieutenant in the Army in World War I - He was ‘gassed in action’ serving on the front lines in France on August 13, 1918. The gas blinded him for four days, but he made a full recovery in a Paris hospital. 
Harry Sullivan
Thomas Sullivan
- Colgate football – 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 - Manager of the Colgate Basketball team in 1913 - Assistant football coach at Colgate in 1914 - Admitted to the New York State Bar in 1921 and was Justice of the Peace in Massena, New York at the time of his death in 1958 - Football coach at Clarkson in 1924 - Replaced his brother as the head football coach at St. Lawrence in 1925 after serving as an assistant in 1922 - Head baseball and football coach at St. Lawrence from 1925-1937 - Lieutenant in the Army in World War I - Stationed at Camp Merritt, New Jersey in 1918 and remained there as an instructor during the war - Played on the Camp Merritt football team until he fractured his wrist. He continued working with the football team as a coach after his injury. Carl Kinscherf
- Colgate football – 1940, 1941 - New York Giants – 1943, 1944 - In 1942 the Syracuse Herald listed him as a private in the Army. His son, Kris, reports that Carl did not serve in the Army in 1942... "Amazingly, he did not pass the physical and then spent that year playing for the Paterson Panthers." - In 1945 he drove an ambulance for the American Field Service in Burma while serving with the British 14th Army. He was a gifted artist and came back with many great drawings from his time overseas. 
Robert ‘Bob’ Gillson
- Colgate football – 1927, 1928, 1929 - Colgate freshman football – 1926 - Colgate lacrosse – did not letter - Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) – 1930-1931 - Assistant football coach at Middlebury College in 1932 - Assistant football coach at Colgate from 1933-1948 (aside from his years in the Navy) - Colgate wrestling coach from 1935-1942, and 1946-1948 - Lieutenant in the Navy during World War II - In 1942 he was training at the Navy Pre-Flight School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina - In 1944 he was named the Athletic Officer of the Navy Flight Preparatory School at Ohio Wesleyan University Laurence ‘Larry’ Bankart
- Colgate football head coach 1910, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916 - Had a record of 28-7-3 with Colgate - Played college football at Dartmouth from 1907-1909 - Commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the Army Air Service - Selected as the coach of the football team at Camp Dick, Dallas, Texas in 1918 - Coached the football team at the Mineola ATC in 1918, but was publically against football for his troops because he did not want them to injure their noses. William ‘Burkey’ Burckhalter
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate freshman football – 1939 - Colgate freshman wrestling – 1939 - Joined the Navy in 1942 and eventually held the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade while serving as a pilot on the aircraft carrier USS Lexington - He trained in Pensacola, Florida; New London, Connecticut; and Norfolk, Virginia - He shot down his first Japanese ‘Zero’ in 1943 and was able to land his plane safely on the carrier with 67 bullet holes - In May 1944 he was flying his Grumman Hellcat near Hollandia in the South Pacific. He spotted three Japanese Ki-21 bombers and was able to shoot down all three. “I looked over the side and there below were three of the most beautiful Sallys I ever saw. They were going east right along the coast, just as smooth and easy like we weren’t there at all – the damn fools.” - On June 11, 1942 he participated in an attack on an island in the South Pacific and was hit with anti-aircraft fire. He made a crash landing in the water but was not able to free himself from his plane. Other aircraft circled the area for 30 minutes and other ships searched the area for several days, but no one found any trace of him and he was presumed to have sunk with the plane. - Over the course of his service he shot down 6 Japanese planes to qualify as an ‘ace’. In addition, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal, Silver Star, and Purple Heart. - A monument for him is located in Honolulu, Hawaii 
Robert ‘Bunkie’ Cochran
- Colgate football – 1948, 1949 - Colgate track – did not letter - Enlisted as a private in the Air Force in August 1950 - After basic training he attended officer candidate school at Lockland Air Force Base in Texas where he received the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in September 1951 - He studied navigation, radar, and bombing at Langley Field Air Force Base in Virginia - Sent to Korea in February 1953 and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in April 1953. His commanding officer said that he “became very adept at locating and destroying unlighted trains and vehicles at night among the rocks and ridges of Northern Korea. His success in destroying enemy transports probably resulted in saving countless lives at the front.” - He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for “high personal courage” in his actions on May 29, 1953. Cochran was flying in a B-26 bomber and “displayed outstanding navigation and bombing skill in six bombing runs on an enemy truck convoy near Inchon”. Dan Spicer
- Colgate football – 1942 - He enlisted in the Army Reserve in late 1942 and in May 1943 he was called to active service - He took his basic training at Fort Niagara and served for three years in the infantry - He returned to Colgate after his service and graduated in 1948 Josiah ‘Jo’ Lancaster
- Colgate football – did not letter - Was on the roster of the 1934 football team - Colgate wrestling - In 1945 he refused to report to the Army and was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison (he eventually served 7 months in Danbury Penitentiary) - He testified that he should have been exempted as a conscientious objector - The jury disagreed and sentenced him after deliberating for 30 minutes - He moved to Portola Valley, California in 1948 and was a strong supporter of the peace and nuclear disarmament movement - He was on the local school board and helped to plan and build one of their middle schools where he later taught 6th and 7th grades. - In 1965 he moved to Paris, France and taught at the American School of Paris while pursuing a career in art - From 1968-71 he was in the Peace Corps and worked with the volunteers in fishing co-ops in Brazil - In 1985 he was still an artist in Paris where he shared a studio with William Wharton (Albert William Du Aime) - Wharton was profiled in a 1985 Chicago Tribune article where he said of Lancaster “He’s the fellow who was in prison as a conscientious objector. He was more than that. He wouldn’t even go register. He didn’t believe in hurting anybody.” - His wife, Adele, reports that “Jo always loved the years he was at Colgate, and especially the glorious days of football!” 
Jo Lancaster Oil Painting
William ‘Bill’ Hoysradt
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate freshman football – 1935 - Inducted into the Army at Fort Niagara in October 1942 - In 1945 he was a corporal with the 38th Infantry Division on Luzon - He had the Combat Infantry Badge, Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon, and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon Bernard ‘Barney’ Traynor
- Colgate football – 1920, 1921, 1922 (captain) - Colgate track - Football coach and assistant track coach at Wisconsin in 1923 and 1924 - Played for the Milwaukee Badgers (NFL) - 1925 - Football and freshman basketball coach at Michigan State from 1926-1927 - While at Michigan State he wrote the words to MSU Shadows, the school’s Alma Mater - Studied law while he held his coaching jobs and became a lawyer in Chicago - Entered the Army in 1918 prior to attending Colgate - Played on an Army football team in France in 1918 - In 1943 he was an administrative inspector at South Plains Army Flying School in Lubbock, Texas 
Bernard 'Barney' Traynor
Edmund Burke
- Colgate football – 1936, 1937, 1938 - He enrolled in a training course for Navy machinists at the University of Kansas in September 1942 - Served aboard the USS Henley as a fireman first class during World War II - He was lost at sea when the USS Henley was torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Finchhafen, New Guinea on October 3, 1943. His body was never recovered and he was declared dead on October 4, 1944. Roger Dughi
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1941 - Accepted as an aviation cadet in the Army in April 1943 - In September 1943 he was training at the Army air field in Greenfield, Mississippi - In 1945 he was serving in Europe with the 461st Bombardment Group as a 2nd Lieutenant - Was awarded the Air Medal on March 1, 1945 Thomas ‘Tom’ Zetkov
- Colgate football – 1942, 1947, 1948 (captain) - In 1943 he was a private in the Army Air Corps and trained at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and Keesler Field in Mississippi Neil Dooley
- Colgate football – 1943 - Colgate basketball – 1943, 1944, 1948 - Selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1948 BAA (NBA) Draft, but was cut before he played in a game - Began his service as a private first class in the Marines in July 1942 - In July 1944 he was training at Parris Island, South Carolina and he followed that up by attending Officer Candidates School at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in October 1944 - In 1945 he was a 2nd Lieutenant stationed at Quantico, Virginia and San Francisco, California - In January 1946 he was stationed on Guam with the 5th Field Depot Mitchell ‘Mitch’ Susco
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1940 - On January 12, 1945 he was seriously wounded in action in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge - He was awarded the Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars Paul Swartz
- Colgate football – 1940 - Colgate baseball - In April 1942 he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant in the Marines while he was stationed in Quantico, Virginia - In 1943 he was promoted to 1st lieutenant while stationed at Parris Island, South Carolina - In March 1944 he was promoted from 1st lieutenant to captain while stationed at New River Air Station in Jacksonville, North Carolina - In 1945 he was with the 5th Military Police Battalion in San Francisco, California Joseph ‘Joe’ McCourt
- Colgate football – 1940, 1941 - Joined the Army Air Corps immediately after the football season in 1941 - In late 1942 he was an aviation lieutenant on patrol in San Diego, California - In September 1943 he flew on a transport with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt from California to Hawaii on the first leg of her trip to the South Pacific. He had a chance to talk with the First Lady and said she was ‘a grand person’. They also spoke about Colgate and Mrs. Roosevelt immediately remembered that Colgate was ‘the college that was 100 percent for Willkie in 1940.’ Charles ‘Trey’ Coley III
- Colgate football – 1938, 1939, 1940 - Colgate hockey – 1939, 1940, 1941 - Coached peewee hockey for the Buffalo Shamrocks for many years - In 1945 he was a lieutenant in the 2nd Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colorado - He played hockey for the Colorado Springs Falcons. The team was made up of players from the 2nd Air Force and Peterson Field. - He was promoted to captain and served in Europe and the Mediterranean Elving ‘Al’ Nordmark
- Colgate football – 1945, 1946 - Enlisted in the Marines in December 1942 - In 1944 he was a private first class training at Parris Island, South Carolina and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina - In 1945 he was based in San Francisco and eventually held the rank of first lieutenant in the Pacific Theatre - Served with the 2nd Marines on Okinawa - He served in Nagasaki, Japan with the 6th Marines two months after the atomic bomb was dropped Charles Hubbell
- Colgate football – 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917 (captain) - Colgate senior class president - Served in the Navy during World War I 
Charles Hubbell
William ‘Bill’ Neilsen
- Colgate football – 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916 - Captain in the 307th Field Artillery in the Army in World War I - Trained the Camp Dix football team along with Ellery Huntington Jr. and David Belford West Albert ‘Al’ Andrako
- Colgate football – did not letter - Was in the Army in 1943 and received his Colgate diploma in absentia - Died in 1953 – If anyone has any information about him please let me know Lyle Chapman
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate Glee Club - Became a Special Agent for the US Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Prohibition. Was handpicked by Eliot Ness for a special team whose task was to bring down Al Capone. They eventually became known as ‘The Untouchables’. - In later years he spoke about being offered money by Capone’s men to back off: “Oh, we’d take the money, but turn it over as evidence and then smash another brewery.” - Major in the Army Special Services during World War II 
Lyle Chapman
John Lucy
- Colgate football – 1936, 1937, 1938 (captain) - Colgate lacrosse – 1938, 1939 - Colgate basketball – 1939 (honorary letter) - Lieutenant in the Navy in World War II - Was stationed in China in 1943 when his Colgate teammate and co-captain, Don Wemple, crash landed and died after his plane was damaged by enemy fire. 
John Lucy
Fred Swan
- Colgate football assistant coach from 1928-1929 and then again from 1940-1942 - Colgate boxing coach - Assistant coach at Wisconsin – 1930-1932 - Assistant coach at Temple – 1933-1938 - Head coach at Temple – 1939 - Spent most of his playing and coaching years under Andy Kerr and Glenn ‘Pop’ Warner. Kerr was the coach at Stanford when Swan was a freshman and Warner was his coach from 1924-1926. He assisted Kerr at Colgate twice and was under Warner at Temple from 1933-1938. When Warner retired he urged Temple to hire Swan as their next head coach. - Commissioned as a lieutenant (SG) in the Navy in early 1943 and reported to the North Carolina Naval Pre-Flight School at Chapel Hill - In April 1945 he was transferred to San Diego, California Robert Leary
- Colgate football – 1945, 1946, 1947 - Bombardier in the Army Air Force in World War II - Flew in 19 missions Glen Treichler
- Colgate football – 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947 (captain) - Colgate basketball – 1945 - Colgate track – 1945 - Was transferred to Dartmouth in 1945 in the Navy V-12 program and played the 2nd half of the football season for them. - Played in the 1948 East-West Shrine Game David ‘Dave’ Buck
- Colgate football – 1938, 1939, 1940 - Colgate basketball – 1939, 1940, 1941 - Colgate senior class president - Selected by the Chicago Bears in the 22nd round of the NFL Draft. The pick was disallowed because the Bears selected 24 players instead of the maximum 20. - Served in the Air Force from 1942-1946 - Private in the technical corps attached to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, Air Corps Replacement Training Center in 1942 
Dave Buck
William ‘Bill’ Schmidt II
- Colgate football – 1939 - Colgate basketball – 1940 - Colgate baseball – captain - Was a lieutenant junior grade in the Navy in World War II - Killed by a lighting strike in 1946 Theodore ‘Ted’ Fitch
- Colgate football – 1940 - Colgate swimming - Was a Captain and Major in the Army Air Corps in World War II - In 1942 he was training at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas - Commander of the 13th Bomb Squadron from December 1943 to March 1944 - Flew a Douglas A-20G named ‘Tiney Might’ (Seen below in March 1944 at Nadzab Airfield, New Guinea. Fitch is flanked by James Westbrook and Jimmy Atkinson.) - Provided air support for the amphibious landing at Saidor, Papau New Guinea (Operation MICHAELMAS) in January 1944 - Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal 
Ted Fitch (center) - Photo courtesy of Joseph C. Brown Jr via IHRA
George Akerstrom
- Colgate football – 1934 - Colgate hockey – 1934 - Colgate Hall of Honor - In 1934 he found a rare starfish specimen in the shale of the Colgate University quarry. The 30,000,000-year-old starfish was found while Akerstrom was on a geology trip with Professor Towner Root. - 1935 East-West Shrine Game - Played in the game with Gerald Ford who wrote to him – “You were tough competition for the starting spot at center and prevailed, congratulations, I was proud to be your backup.” - Football coach at Middlebury College from 1935-1941 - Hockey coach at Kimball Union Academy from 1944-1978 - In 1992 he was awarded The John Mariucci Award by the American Hockey Coaches Association - Served in the Coast Guard as a lieutenant junior grade in Newport, Rhode Island from 1942-1943 Michael Stramiello Jr.
- Colgate football – 1927, 1928, 1929 - Colgate freshman track - Colgate heavyweight boxing champ in 1928. Defeated teammate Bob Gillson to win the title. - Skull and Scroll - Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) – 1930-1932, 1934 - Staten Island Stapletons (NFL) – 1932 - Was a commander in the Navy during World War II 
Clarence 'Doc' Heuer
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate freshman football – 1937 - Colgate freshman basketball - Served in the Military Police Corps in the European Theatre during World War II Homer Mye
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate freshman football – 1937 - Served in the Army as a staff sergeant during World War II - Was awarded the Bronze Star in 1945 by the commander of the Sixth Army Group in Heidelberg, Germany - Bronze Star citation – “From the assumption of his work, Sergeant Mye displayed outstanding initiative and efficiency in a position normally occupied by an officer. Doing work that by its very nature invited mistakes and confusion, he never permitted material to leave the section which was not accurately and correctly checked. The importance of his work can more readily be appreciated when it is realized that the security of strategic information and the safety of out front line troops was to a large extent directly dependent on the efficient handling of his duties.” 
Charles Mye
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate freshman football – 1941 - Entered the Navy in August 1942 - Served as an Aviation Ordinance Mate aboard the USS St. Lo seeing action in the Philippines, and later aboard the USS Savo Island - Received battle stars for the Central and South Pacific campaigns and for action in Japanese waters - Played on the 1944 Naval Air Station football team in Hawaii - Discharged as a petty officer first class in December 1945 Julius ‘Jules’ Yakapovich
- Colgate football – 1941, 1943 - Drafted in the 16th round of the 1944 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions - Coached football at Kenmore West High School for 26 years - Notable for developing the ‘radar defense’ - Transferred from Colgate to Parris Island for training in November 1943 - Served in the Marines as a lieutenant during World War II Charles Soleau
- Colgate football – 1931, 1932, 1933 - Lafayette assistant coach – 1934-1935 - Amherst College assistant coach – 1936-1941 - Served in the Navy for three and a half years during World War II - In 1942 he was training at the North Carolina Pre-Flight School and served as an assistant football coach - During his service he was also the Director of Athletics and Recreation at the Naval Air Station in French Morocco - Discharged in October 1945 with the rank of lieutenant commander Donald Gacke
- Colgate football – did not letter - Prior to attending Colgate he worked in Seattle, Washington as a machinist helper at the Bremerton Navy Ship Yard - During that time he attempted to enlist in the Navy several times, but was told that his work at the ship yard was more important - He returned home to Minnesota and was finally able to enlist in the Navy, but because of his height and strength he was sent to California for Marine boot camp and MP duty Thomas Joyce
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Army Signal Corps from 1942-1946 - Saw action in the Pacific Theatre and fought in the Battle of Okinawa Mason Barton
- Colgate football – 1914, 1915, 1916, 1919 - Was a first lieutenant with the Army in the 309th Field Artillery in World War I - In March 1918 he was training at Camp Devens, Massachusetts - Served in the Toul Sector of France seeing action in the Battle of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive 
Mason Barton
Donald ‘Tuts’ McBride
- Colgate football – 1917 - Colgate basketball – 1918, 1919, 1920 - Colgate baseball (captain) - Baseball, basketball, and assistant football coach at Hamilton College - Enlisted in the Navy in 1918 and served in World War I Allen Short
- Colgate football – 1945 - Colgate soccer – 1943 - Colgate hockey – 1944, 1946, 1947 (captain) - Colgate golf – 1946 - Was a backup kicker (hey!) who saw action in the Syracuse game in 1945. Kicked an extra point to give Colgate a 7-0 lead in a game they won 7-6. When he came to the sidelines Andy Kerr grabbed him and said, “That means a big damn C!” - Served in the Marines in World War II 
Al Short
Joseph 'Joe' Bogdanski
- Colgate football – 1932, 1933, 1934 - All-American in 1934 - 1935 East-West Shrine Game - Served in the Navy from 1943 to 1948 where he rose to the rank of lieutenant while serving on a destroyer escort in the Atlantic theater - Later became the chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court Lewis Harris
- Colgate football – 1916, 1919 - Served in the Navy during World War I - Was at the Naval Training Station in Newport, Rhode Island in October 1917 Brewer Drowne
- Colgate football – 1920 - Colgate lacrosse – 1921 (captain) - In late 1917 Drowne was a sergeant in the Army training at Camp Wadsworth in Spartanburg, South Carolina - He was with New York National Guard, who were called into federal service and formed part of the 106th Machine Gun Battalion in the 27th Division of the Army - In 1920 the Colgate Maroon listed him as being 21 years old. However, a Brewer Campbell Drowne who served in the same unit in World War I has a grave showing his birth date as June 7, 1894. 
Brewer Drowne
Russell Grotemat
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate track – did not letter - Was training and playing football with the Naval Reserves in Newport, Rhode Island in late 1917 - Was commissioned an ensign in December 1917 William ‘Bill’ Deming
- Colgate football – 1945 - Colgate basketball – did not letter - Enlisted in the Marines after Pearl Harbor - Saw action as a sergeant on Guadalcanal - He also was a gun captain on an anti-aircraft gun and was credited with shooting down three Japanese airplanes over Rendova and New Georgia Islands - Rescued a fighter pilot who crashed just off an island where Deming was stationed. Deming swam out 200 yards with another marine to rescue the wounded pilot before the plane sank. Edwin Worden
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Air Force in World War II - In 1942 he was training at the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center - He was commissioned as second lieutenant after graduating from the Army Air Forces Gulf Coast Training Center Bill Judson
- Colgate football – did not letter - Close friends with Andy Rooney, who he also went to high school with. Rooney wrote about him in his 1984 book ‘Pieces of My Mind’ in the chapter titled ‘Passing’. - Served in the Army Air Forces as a B-17 pilot during World War II Stuart ‘Stu’ Benedict
- Colgate football – 1959, 1960, 1961 - Colgate golf – 1960, 1961, 1962 - Colgate wrestling - Member of the Air Force ROTC at Colgate and took airborne summer training courses 
Stu Benedict
Milton 'Milt' McClure
- Colgate football – 1945 - Played his freshman year at the University of Georgia - Was dismissed from the Colgate team in October 1947 by coach Paul Bixler for a violation of training rules - Suffered from a severe polio attack in the summer of 1948 and was just regaining the use of his legs in early 1949 - Was a Marine trainee at Colgate during World War II 
Milt McClure
Richard ‘Dick’ Kreter
- Colgate football – 1943, 1944 - Colgate baseball - Marine trainee at Colgate during World War II Harry William Lindeman Jr.
- Colgate football – 1943, 1944 - Colgate hockey – 1944 - Served in the Navy during World War II - Returned to the Navy for the Korean War and was the executive officer on the USS Takelma eventually earning the rank of lieutenant John ‘Clem’ Lanni
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate basketball – 1912 - Colgate baseball - Transferred to the University of Rochester where he played football, baseball, and captained the basketball team - Served in France with the Signal Corps during World War I Jeffrey 'Jeff' Bentz
- Colgate football – 1995, 1996, 1997 - Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Marines in June 1998 at Quantico, VA. - From January-June of 2003 he was deployed with the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Infantry, as an S-4 officer during Operation Iraqi Freedom - During this deployment he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat ‘V’ for Valor - From October 2003-May 2004 he served with the same infantry regiment in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom - From January-September 2008 he served as a trainer/advisor to an Iraqi Syrian Border Security Force Battalion during Operation Iraqi Freedom 8.1 - From January-September 2009 he served with Combat Logistics Battalion-7 as an Operations and Executive Officer - During this deployment he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal - He currently holds the rank of Major and is serving on active duty at US Central Command in Tampa, FL 
Jeff Bentz
Rich Burke
- Colgate football – 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 (captain) - Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in 1995 and served on active duty until 2001 - Following the September 11th attacks he volunteered for service is 1st Battalion 25th Marine Regiment and deployed overseas from January 2003 – January 2004 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom - Served in the Marine reserves until 2013; completed overseas assignments in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia Charles Farr Jr.
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Navy during World War II - Enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and transferred to Colgate for officer candidate school - He also went to Dartmouth and played football while in ROTC David Lake
- Colgate football – 1973, 1974 - Freshman football team co-captain – 1971 - Drafted by the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League in 1975 - Graduate assistant coach at Colgate in 1976 - Served in the United States Marine Corps from 1977-1982 - Earned Navy Achievement Medal for meritorious service in 1979 when the Marines were deployed to Cuba by President Carter - Coached USMC 2nd Marine Division championship football team in 1979 - Exited the Marines with the rank of Captain - Currently works at North Cross School in Roanoke, Virginia, in the Development Office and coaches football Willis Linn
- Colgate football – 1906 - After graduating from medical school he joined the National Guard - He served near the Mexican border as a captain with the 1st New York Ambulance Company and was awarded a citation - Upon his return he was the commanding officer of Troop A of the New York State Police from 1917 through 1919 
Willis Linn
Ralph Tibbals
- Colgate football – 1901, 1902 - Was the pastor of a Baptist church in Williamstown, NY prior to receiving his commission as an Army Chaplain in February 1918 - He served as a 1st lieutenant with the 117th Ammunition Train in the American Expeditionary Force Raymond Scott Jr.
- Colgate football – 1948 - Served in the Army from 1951 to 1953 - Taught cryptography at Fort Gordon, Georgia during his service John Karski
- Colgate football – 1946 - Served in the Marines during World War II - Played on the 3rd Infantry football team in 1945 - In 1953 he was a 2nd lieutenant assigned to Camp Pendleton, CA where he was an acting company commander Albert Moro
- Colgate football – did not letter - Played on the freshman football team at Manhattan in 1941 - Transferred to Colgate at part of the Navy V-5 Aviation Cadet Training Program - Served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War - Spent 21 years in the Navy flying fighter jets and retired in 1964 with the rank of Commander Edward Stacco
- Colgate football – 1943, 1944 (captain), 1946 - Served in the Marines as a lieutenant in World War II - Played for the El Toro Flying Marines in 1945 - Drafted in the 25th round of the 1946 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions - Played for the Detroit Lions in 1947 and the Washington Redskins in 1948 Edward ‘Eddie’ Lynk
- Colgate football – did not letter - Lettered in baseball and football at Fordham - Left Colgate in 1944 for Chapel Hill Pre-Flight School - Played minor league baseball in the Boston Red Sox organization for a few years after World War II before quitting to become a New York City police officer - In 1952 his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire 20 miles behind enemy lines in Korea. He was able to maneuver back over friendly territory before bailing out. Vittorio Ottanelli
- Colgate football – 2009, 2010, 2011 - Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army following Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA in 2018 
Vittorio Ottanelli
Thomas ‘Tommy’ Dowler
- Colgate football – 1927, 1928, 1929 - 1930 East-West Shrine Game - 1931 - Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) - Served in the Navy as a Lieutenant during World War II F. Gorham Brigham
- Colgate football – 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904 (captain) - Colgate basketball – 1902, 1903 (captain), 1904 (captain), 1905 - Graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1909 and joined the Medical Corps of the Army in World War I where he served in France Roy Somogye
- Colgate football – did not letter - Also graduated from the US Naval Academy and served as a lieutenant in the Navy from 1950-1956, including during the Korean War - His headstone reads “Lucky will be the ship to which ‘Smoge’ is sent” 
Roy Somogye
Thomas ‘Tom’ Stroock
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Marines in World War II - Graduated from Yale University where he was good friends with George H. W. Bush - Served as State Senator in Wyoming for several terms - Appointed US Ambassador to Guatemala by President Bush in 1989 where he served until 1992 
Thomas Stroock
Charles ‘Charlie’ Koblinski
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate baseball - Served in the Army in World War II - Spent 3 seasons playing minor league baseball in the Brooklyn Dodgers organization George Caridakis
- Colgate football – did not letter - Graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and received his masters from Washington University in St. Louis - Served in the Marine Corps in World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam, retiring as a colonel in 1979 - Awarded the Bronze Star - Buried in Section 66, Grave 7101 of Arlington National Cemetery 
George Caridakis - Arlington National Cemetery
Andre Buchs
- Colgate football – 1959, 1960 - Colgate track – 1961 - After graduating from dental school in 1966, he served in the Army as a captain in the Panama Canal Zone - Awarded the Army Commendation Medal Fred Wright
- Colgate football – 1939 - Enlisted in the US Naval Reserve after Pearl Harbor - Assigned to the USS Dashiell DD 659 as Chief Engineer and then Executive Officer - Served in the Pacific Theatre in World War II at most major battles, earning eight campaign medals and the Bronze Star with ‘V’ Lowell McCaw
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1951 - Served in the Air Force advancing to the rank of major - Also served as a sergeant first class in the Army Corps of Engineers and retired as a major in the Army Kendall Edkins
- Colgate football – 1917, 1921 - Colgate basketball – 1918, 1921 - Skull and Scroll - Freshman class president - Freshman football coach – 1924-1926 - Served in the Army during World War I - Trained at Fort Jackson, South Carolina 
Kendall Edkins
Richard ‘Dick’ Kromer
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1940 - One of the founding members of the Colgate Thirteen - Served in the Army Air Corps in World War II and was stationed in the Aleutian Islands Richard ‘Dick’ Gache
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate golf – 1952 - Served in the Air Force from 1954-1957 where he rose to the rank of captain James Cochran
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Navy for 2 years 
Richard Gache
Brian Douglas
- Colgate football – 1986, 1987, 1988 - Served in the Navy - Attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island Lewis Hornberger
- Colgate football – 1897, 1899 - Colgate baseball - Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army Coast Artillery Corps at the start of World War I - Rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Military Intelligence Reserves - He died in 1935 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 2, Grave 4815-SH 
Lewis Hornberger - Arlington National Cemetery
Earl Sweet
- Colgate football – 1900 - Colgate basketball – 1901 (captain – 1st basketball team at Colgate) - Colgate track – 1901 - Graduated from Cornell Medical School - Served in the Army Medical Corps in World War I - Performed emergency anesthesia at US Army Base Hospital 31, also served at Central Laboratories in Dijon, France - Was promoted to captain while serving with Hospital Unit ‘G’ in France in 1918 and eventually earned the rank of major Edward Simmons
- Colgate football – 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906 - Graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons - Served in the Army as a first lieutenant of Ambulance Company No. 13 at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana - Promoted to captain after two months and later a major with the 317th Sanitary Train, 92nd Division - Served in France with the 317th and was also surgeon for the 365th Infantry, 92nd Division - Awarded for bravery in action on November 10 and 11, 1918 near Pont-a-Mousson, France - Returned from France in January 1919 and dealt with a long illness from a gassing in the war that eventually led to his death in 1928 John McGough
- Colgate football – 1906, 1909 - Colgate baseball - Coached football and basketball at Gonzaga for the 1916-1917 season - Coached football, basketball, and baseball at New Mexico for the 1919-1920 season - Graduated from law school at Gonzaga - Served in the Army Tank Corps in World War I - After his discharge he went to France as a member of the Knights of Columbus working with athletes Frederick Connolly
- Colgate football – 1909, 1910 - Trained at Plattsburgh, New York in 1917 and was lieutenant in the Aviation Section, US Signal Corps - Flew with the 8th Aero Squadron - On a patrol along the Mexican border on September 27, 1919 his plane crashed near Fort Ringgold, Texas and he suffered a fractured skull and spine - He was paralyzed below the waist and was at the general hospital at Fort Sam Houston, Texas until March 1920 - He was transferred to Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington, DC and remained there until July 1926 - Honorably discharged in November 1926 - His discharge completed the demobilization of the armed forces from World War I - Fred married and had a successful business career after his accident Daniel ‘Dan’ Fortmann
- Colgate football – 1934, 1935 - Entered Colgate at 16 years old and graduated at 19 years old - East-West Shrine Game – 1936 - Selected in the 9th round of the 1936 NFL draft - Chicago Bears – 1936-1943 - 3x NFL Champion (1940, 1941, 1943) - 6x First-team All-Pro (1938-1943) - 2x Second-team All-Pro (1936, 1937) - 3x NFL All-Star (1940-1942) - NFL 1930’s All-Decade Team - NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team - Pro Football Hall of Fame - College Football Hall of Fame - Team physician for the Los Angeles Rams for many years - Completed medical school and his residency during his time with the Bears - Commissioned as a lieutenant in the Navy in February 1945 - Served aboard a Red Cross hospital ship in the South Pacific - Also served aboard an attack transport ship 
Dan Fortmann
Edwin Leary
- Colgate football – 1913 - Colgate Graduate Manager of Athletics – 1915 - University of Vermont head coach – 1916 - Roanoke College head coach – 1920 - Served in the Army as a captain in the 310th Infantry, 78th Division in World War I - Player/coach for the 310th Infantry football team - Graduated from law school and practiced law with his brother Perry for many years Perry Leary
- Colgate football – 1914 - Union College head coach – 1920-1930 - Served in the Army as a captain in the 312th Infantry, 78th Division in World War I - Graduated from law school and practiced law with his brother Edwin for many years Robert Martin
- Colgate football – 1919 - Served in the Army in World War I Wendell Brewer
- Colgate football – 1920 - Member of Troop H Cavalry of the New York State Guard and left school to serve on the Mexican border - Served overseas with his unit in World War I Charles ‘Lamy’ Crovat
- Colgate football – 1916 - Official scorer for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League for 47 years - Posthumously honored with the Lester Patrick Award in 1974 for outstanding service to hockey in the United States - Served in the 104th Field Artillery in World War I Lawrence ‘Chief’ Leonard
- Colgate football – 1920 - Colgate baseball (captain) - Served in Company A of the 104th Machine Gun Battalion in World War I - Promoted to corporal while at Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina in February 1918 James ‘Jim’ Leonard
- Colgate football – 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923 (captain) - Colgate basketball – 1921, 1922 - Rochester Jeffersons – 1923 - Chicago Bears – 1924 - Served in the Army in World War I Gilbert Doane
- Colgate football – 1913 - Served in the Navy as librarian at the Naval Training School in Newport, Rhode Island in World War I - Served in the Army in World War II attaining the rank of major Ralph Bunnell
- Colgate football – 1907 (manager) - Seriously injured in the 1906 Colgate – Syracuse bleacher collapse - Served in the Navy in World War I |
Andrew Kerr Jr.
- Colgate football – did not letter - Andy Kerr’s son - Colgate track - Graduated in 1937 - Harvard Medical School graduate – 1941 - Captain with the Medical Corps of the Army in World War II – 39th Infantry - While he was attached to a general hospital in England in 1945 he coached the 111th Aces football team. They were unbeaten, untied, and unscoredupon… until the final 4 seconds of the season when they gave up a touchdown. - Awarded the Bronze Star and two Presidential Unit Citations - Awarded the Silver Star in 1945 – “Captain Andrew Kerr, Jr., Medical Corps United States Army, who distinguished himself by gallantry in action against the enemy on the 17th of April, 1945 in the vicinity of Aschersleben, Germany. When a motorized patrol encountered severe small arms fire and suffered numerous casualties, Capt. Kerr answered the call for litter bearers by leading a group of aid men forward. Disregarding personal safety, he moved about the fire-swept area, administering aid to the wounded, moving them to sheltered positions and supervising their evacuation. His courageous actions in defiance of danger, his aggressiveness and his devotion to duty were instrumental in saving many lives and reflect the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.” 
Andy Kerr Jr. and Andy Kerr
William ‘Bill’ Kerr
- Colgate football – 1938 - Andy Kerr’s son - Harvard Law School graduate – 1943 - Joined the FBI after graduating and later resigned to join the Navy as a Naval Intelligence officer - Lieutenant (junior grade) during World War II - Was onboard the USS Princeton when it was sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf - Rescued by a destroyer after spending several hours in the water and was returned to Pearl Harbor Dick East
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1939 - Amateur boxer at Colgate in 1941 (155 lbs) - Lieutenant in the Army in World War II - November 1942 – transferred from the Army Air Corps base in Jacksonville, Florida to foreign duty - Fighter pilot with the 8th Army Air Force, 4th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group - Killed in action when his P-40 was shot down over Tunisia on April 4, 1943 - Awarded the Purple Heart and Air Medal - Buried in the North Africa American Cemetery & Memorial in Tunis, Tunisia - Had his dog, Duckworth, with him in Tunisia. When he was killed his parents sent a letter to General Eisenhower requesting to have the dog returned. Eisenhower made the arrangements, but when he heard how upset East’s squad was at losing Duckworth he decided the dog would stay. East’s parents did not know the dog meant so much to the men so they were okay with him staying. Lieutenant Harold Taff, East’s best friend, kept the dog while the squad was overseas. He gave the dog back to East’s parents when he returned to the United States. They reported that he slept next to East’s bed every night. John ‘Jack’ Scott
- Colgate football – 1939, 1940, 1941 - Amateur boxer at Colgate in 1941 (heavyweight) - Private in the Army in World War II - 1942 – at Buckley Field in Denver, Colorado training to be an armorer in the Army Air Corps Maintenance Division - 1942 – training at Berkeley Field in California - Tail gunner in the Army Air Force in a B-17 - Listed as ‘Missing in Action’ in early 1944 after his plane went down. Some members of his crew were located as German prisoners of war, but Scott was never found. 
Andy Rooney
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1939 - Drafted into the Army in 1941 - Began writing for the Stars and Stripes in 1942 - Flew with the 8th Air Force in Germany in 1943 - One of the first American journalists to visit Nazi concentration camps near the end of World War II - Awarded the Bronze Star and Air Medal - CBS 60 Minutes – 1978-2011 
Photo from Andy Rooney's book My War
Dan Binneweg
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1939 - Injured his shoulder in practice in 1939 - Left Colgate after his junior year to join the Army Air Corps - 2nd Lieutenant in the Army in World War II - Was training at Randolph Field, Texas in 1942 - Crashed a BT-9 training plane on February 6, 1942 at Randolph Field - 12th Air Force, 33rd Fighter Group, 60th Fighter Squadron - On November 27, 1942, he was part of 69 men and 6 officers in his squadron who moved to Oujda, Morocco on the border of Algeria - Killed in action on December 23, 1942 over Algeria - One week before his death he wrote a letter to Bill Reid, director of athletics at Colgate: “Dear Bill, I hope everything is going fine at Colgate. I sure do miss it. I’ve got a bet on the Syracuse game with a fellow in my squadron from Syracuse, and we haven’t even gotten the score yet. What a life! I’m over in North Africa flying. We’ve had a little action and things are really going swell. I expect we’ll have these Germans beaten pretty soon. I want to be on your list so I’ll be getting those new bulletins when they come out. Even if you have some old ones, I’d sure appreciate them. The last one I received was last summer when I was at Bolling Field. Those bulletins would really mean a lot to me, especially over here. We’ve been moving all over North Africa, sleeping in old barns, shacks, pup-tents, in the mud and rain and half freezing to death, but we’re getting there. We just need news from home to keep us pepped up. Right now I’m waiting on a truck to get to some hot springs where I can get a bath. I haven’t even had my clothes off for a week - - it’s been so cold at night. Our baggage is far behind us and such a thing as clean clothes in our outfit is unknown. However, we have a lot of fun talking over our ‘flights’ and college days, etc. Give my regards to Andy, Rockafellow, Jack Rourke and the others who might remember me. I hope I’ll be able to drop in at Colgate when I get home and say ‘hello’ to my friends. Best regards and best of luck to Colgate in all sports. I’m rooting from ‘over here’. Sincerely, Dan Binneweg” - He was interred in the Long Island Cemetery in 1949 Hans Guenther
- Colgate football – 1939, 1940, 1941 (captain) - Licensed pilot prior to joining the Marines - In Quantico, VA for training in 1942 - First Lieutenant who served for 5 months on Guadalcanal - Injured his knee in a Marine rest camp football game. Due to the injury and a case of malaria, he spent part of 1943 in a hospital at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. - Excerpt from Andy Rooney’s book My War – “The first time I tried to move Hans Guenther out of the hole I was supposed to make for the fullback, Hans grabbed me by the shoulder pads, threw me aside, and tackled the fullback behind the line of scrimmage.” 
Abram Robertson Frye
- Colgate football – 1916 - Colgate Track - Sergeant in Ambulance Service - Transferred to Aviation Section, Signal Corps - Trained in Toronto and Fort Worth under the supervision of the Royal Flying Corps - Sent to Allentown, PA, then to Camp Dix, NJ - Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 182nd Aero Squadron - Overseas in May 1918 - Killed in airplane collision near Lincoln, England, July 9, 1918 - Buried in Anderson, Indiana 
Abram Robertson Frye
Lamont Sonds
- Colgate football – 2008, 2009, 2010 - Navy boot camp – 2012 - Will attend Navy Nuclear Power School in Charleston, South Carolina - In July 2013 he held the rank of Electronics Technician, Third Class - Finished a 9.5-year active duty Naval career in 2022. Continued to serve as a reservist. 
Lamont Sonds
Manuel ‘Manny’ Torres
- Colgate football – 2007, 2009 - 2nd lieutenant in the Marine Corps 
Manny Torres
Garrett Gish
- Colgate football – 2007, 2008 - Transferred from Texas A&M - Served as a Green Beret in the Army Special Forces in the Middle East and Central Asia from 2009-2015 Frank Keller
- Colgate Football – 1936, 1937 - Was a lawyer after graduating before he enlisted - Lieutenant (junior grade) in the US Navy in World War II - Killed in a blimp crash at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, NJ in May 1944. He was the assistant communications officer. The blimps from Lakehurst were used on anti-submarine patrol. Ellery Huntington, Jr.
- Colgate football – 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 - Consensus 1st Team All-American Quarterback - 1913 - Colgate football head coach – 1919-1921 - Captain in the 307th Field Artillery in the Army in World War I - Trained at Plattsburgh, New York in 1916, Camp Dix, New Jersey in 1917 and 1918, and Fort Sill, Oklahoma in 1918 - Head coach of the celebrated Camp Dix football team - Arrived in France in May 1918 and participated in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive and the Battle of Saint-Mihiel - Fluent in at least 6 languages - His father, Ellery Huntington Sr., took a leave of absence from Colgate in 1918 to go to France as part of the National War Work Council with the YMCA - His son, Ellery Huntington III, was killed in action in World War II - In World War II he served for William Joseph Donovan in the Office of Strategic Services - Was involved in a mission to steal naval codes from the Vichy French embassy in Washington, DC for the allied invasion of North Africa. Huntington would later benefit from the stolen codes while working undercover in North Africa prior to the Allied landings. - Awarded the Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster - http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/mcintosh-sisterhood.html Joseph Hoague
- Colgate football – 1938, 1939, 1940 - Selected in the 13th round of the 1941 NFL draft - Pittsburgh Steelers – 1941-1942 - Philadelphia/Pittsburgh ‘Steagles’ – 1943 - As a going away present, the Steagles coach put Hoague in the starting lineup for his last game prior to reporting to the Navy. - Navy training at Fort Schuyler in New York in 1943 - Melville Night Raiders (Navy football) - 1945 - Boston Yanks – 1946 Monroe ‘Mike’ Good
- Colgate football – 1914, 1915, 1916 - 1916 – spent time in Wampsville prison for cutting someone’s hair without his consent. The victim sued him for $5,000 and the court ruled that he owed $500. Good refused to accept the money that was raised for the fine by the student body. Instead, he stayed in prison until the court decided that justice had been done. - 1917 – Completed training for the aviation corps in Princeton, NJ. Sent to Italy for training with the aviation section of the Signal Corps. - 1920 – Colgate line coach 
Monroe 'Mike' Good
Charles 'Wrecker' Wasicek
- Colgate football – 1933, 1934, 1935 (captain) - All-American in 1935 - 1936 East-West Shrine Game - Commissioned as a lieutenant in the US Navy in 1943 - Served as a battery officer and helped train gun crews in Norfolk, Virginia 
Charles Wasicek
William ‘Indian Bill’ Geyer
- Colgate football – 1939, 1940, 1941 - 1942 East-West Shrine Game - Selected in the 11th round of the 1942 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears - Chicago Bears – 1942-1943, 1946 - He paid for his own plane and training after being rejected for Colgate’s civilian pilot training course in 1940 because of an eye injury - He was turned down by the Navy in 1941 because of the same injury, so he had surgery to correct it - Returned to Colgate in 1943 for aviation training and took math courses from Andy Kerr - Gunnery officer in the Navy in World War II - Played with a Navy football team in a game against the Army in the Philippines in 1945 - Returned to the Brooklyn Armed Guard Center in 1945 after commanding a gun crew 
Clarence ‘Steamer’ Horning
- Colgate football – 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916 (captain) - 1916 consensus All-American - Signed a professional baseball contract with Pittsburgh in 1917 (did not play) - Detroit Heralds football – 1920 - Detroit Lions football – 1921 - Buffalo All-Americans football – 1921 - Toledo Maroons football – 1922-1923 - ROTC training at Fort Niagara in 1917 - 2nd Lieutenant in the Army in World War I - In September 1918 it was reported that he was severely wounded in France when he was hit in the face with shrapnel - The report was refuted in October 1918 when Horning was seen alive and uninjured at a train station in France Earl ‘Tuffy’ Abell
- Colgate football – 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915 - VMI football coach – 1917-1918 - VMI basketball coach – 1917-1919 - Sewanee football coach – 1919-1920 - Mississippi A&M football coach – 1923, 1924 - Colgate football assistant coach – 1925-1927 - Colgate football head coach – 1928 - University of Virginia football coach – 1929-1930 - Member of the Wisconsin National Guard for 3 years - Wisconsin National Guard Company F AAU National Championship basketball team – 1910 John ‘Bat’ Batorski
- Colgate football – 1941, 1942 - Colgate basketball – 1942 - Colgate track and field – 1942 - Colgate baseball – 1942 - Selected in the 18th round of the 1944 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins - Buffalo Bisons (AAFC) - 1946 - First Colgate athlete since 1906 (Walter Runge, Riley Castleman) to letter in 4 sports in one year - Was walking to a baseball game in his baseball equipment when it was suggested that he could help the track team earn a few points in their meet. He tossed the discus 136 feet, 4.5 inches to break the Colgate record set by Len Macaluso in 1932 (135 feet, 11 inches). Colgate lost the meet to Syracuse 67 2/3 to 67 1/3 points. - Entered the Army in May 1943. Served for 22 months in the pacific with the 43rd Field Hospital. Robert ‘Bob’ Rowe
- Colgate football – 1931, 1932 - Transferred from Hillsdale College in Michigan - 1933 East-West Shrine Game - Detroit Lions – 1934 - Philadelphia Eagles – 1935 - Colgate football assistant coach – 1946 - Served in the Army from 1941-1945 - Was a Staff Sergeant in the Signal Corps and worked on the production of training videos - Wounded in action in the European Theatre in 1945 Howard ‘Hoddy’ Jones
- Colgate football – 1938 - 1st Lieutenant in the Air Transport Command in WWII - http://colgate.plannedgifts.org/stories_hoddy.html Henry Gillo
- Colgate football – 1915, 1916, 1917, 1919 - Voted 1918 captain (no team) - 1917-1918 Aviation Training School in Ithaca, NY - Training at Camp Dick, Dallas, Texas in 1918 - Served in France in WWI Michael Micka
- Colgate football – 1941, 1942, 1943 (captain) - Selected in the 1st round (8th overall) of the 1944 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins - Washington Redskins – 1944-1945 - Boston Yanks – 1945-1948 - Enlisted in the Marines in 1942 - Was a Private in his time in the V-12 program at Colgate - Was at basic training on Parris Island, South Carolina in 1944 
Mike Micka, 2nd from left, Parris Island, SC
Truman Jenkins
- Colgate football – 1943 - Named the ‘Honor Bluejacket’ in the Colgate V-12 program for the spring term in 1944. ‘The award goes to the man who, by his scholarship, leadership, character and service, best exemplifies the traditions on the Navy.’ - Served as a squad leader, guide, platoon petty office, platoon leader, company petty officer, and company commander in the V-12 program - In early 1944 he was assigned to Plattsburgh Pre-Midshipman School - In late 1944 he was finishing midshipman training at Cornell University - Ensign in the Navy in World War II - Stationed at San Pedro, California in early 1945 - Served in the Pacific and later donated 3 Russian postage stamps to Eugene Choppa, owner of Choppa’s Barber Shop in his hometown of Glens Falls, New York - Jenkins traded for the stamps when his ship made a rendevous with a Russian submarine in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to transfer secret orders John ‘Jack’ Hart
- Colgate football – 1942 - Private First Class in the Army in World War II - Member of the 1st Cavalry Division - The 1st Cavalry was involved with the liberation of Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila - Served in city of Manila, the Philippines; the Admiralty Islands; and on Leyte Island - Was wounded in action on March 10, 1945 in the Philippines - He was transferred to a hospital in Australia where he died on March 13, 1945 Walter ‘Mag’ Spencer
- Colgate football – 1915, 1916, 1917 - Joined the Royal Flying Corps in early 1918 - Finished 4th in his class at aviation school at the University of Toronto - Qualified as a pilot at Camp Borden, north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada - Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in August 1918 - In late 1918 he was an instructor at the aviation school in Toronto 
Walter Spencer
Richard Vander Clute
- Colgate football – did not letter - Promoted from Junior Varsity to Varsity for the final 4 games in 1946 - Declared ineligible for baseball in 1947 because of his grades - Played for the Hamilton Pioneers in the Mid-State Semi-Pro Baseball League in 1947 - Transferred to Wake Forest where he was a pitcher on the baseball team in 1949 - In August 1946 he was the starting pitcher of the All-East team that played in the Esquire All-Star boys game at Wrigley Field - Enlisted in the Marines in April 1951 - Was training as a Private at Parris Island in 1951 - In 1952 he was a 2nd Lieutenant at the 1st Marine Headquarters in San Francisco, CA - In 1954 he was a Captain in the Marine Corps Volunteer Reserve in Boston, MA - Served in the Marines in the Korean War and earned a Purple Heart - He died in 1993 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 60, Grave 5792 
Joseph Drohan
- Colgate football – 1935, 1936 - Freshman football, baseball, and basketball – 1934 - Colgate heavyweight boxing champion in 1935 and 1936. Defeated football teammate Red Chesbro in the finals in 1936. - Left Colgate in 1937 due to financial and academic issues - Fought in the 1937 Golden Gloves tournament in Binghamton, New York and qualified to fight in Madison Square Garden. Lost to Gus Alexander in the semi-finals of the light-heavyweight division. - Returned to school in 1938 but was ruled ineligible to play for the football team due to his grades - Helped coach the Freshman football team in 1938 - Colgate handball champion in 1939. Won a trophy donated for the handball tournament by Frank Frisch, St. Louis Cardinals manager. Frisch was the uncle of Colgate football player John Lucy. - Joined the Army Air Corps in 1939 - Trained at Mitchel Field, New York and Randolph Field, Texas - In 1944 he was flying as a First Officer in a C-54 transport plane from Scotland to North Africa - In 1946 he visited his former Colgate coach, Johnny Orsi, and gave him a ride in a plane. While in flight, Drohan asked Orsi who the best end he had coached at Colgate was. Orsi replied “Larry Cabrelli” and Drohan took the plane into a dive until Orsi laughed and said that “Drohan was the best by a million miles”. Hamilton ‘Ham’ Davis
- Colgate football – 1940, 1941 - Colgate senior class president - Western Reserve Medical School Class of 1945 (also class president) - Interned as Grasslands Hospital in Valhalla, New York - Director of the Anesthesiology Service at Lakeside Hospital from 1953-1966 - In 1966 he was one of the founders of the medical school at the UC Davis. He also was a professor and the Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology. - Commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps in 1946 - Served 2 years as a medical officer in the Panama Canal Zone 
Wolcott ‘Wooky’ Roberts
- Colgate football – 1915 - Transferred to the United States Naval Academy where he held the rank of Ensign. - Lettered in football at Navy from 1916-1918 and was an All-American halfback in 1918. - Canton Bulldogs – 1922-1923 - Cleveland Bulldogs – 1924-1925 - Frankford Yellow Jackets – 1926 - Won NFL Championships in 1922, 1923, 1924, and 1926 Joseph ‘Joe’ Bray
- Colgate football – 1924, 1925, 1926 - Delta Kappa Epsilon - Skull and Scroll - Senior Governing Board - Was a Corporal in the Army in World War II - Decorated for bravery for action in North Africa in 1943 - He received the Purple Heart and a citation and recovered in an American hospital George Woodman
- Colgate football – 1916, 1917, 1919 - Sophomore Class Vice President - High school football coach in East Liverpool, Ohio; Oil City, Pennsylvania; and Clariton, Pennsylvania (1931 WPIAL Champions) - Entered the Army in April 1918 and went to France with the 303rd Engineers, Company D, attached to the 78th AEF Division - Held the rank of Corporal at the end of the war - Stayed in France in early 1919 and took courses at the University of Versailles 
George Woodman
Robert ‘Bob’ Lampe
- Colgate football – 1946, 1947 - Colgate freshman football – 1942 - President of the Student Senate in 1947 - Spent 19 months in the European Theater with the First Army and earned six battle stars George Thomas
- Colgate football – 1942, 1943 (captain) - Was a member of the First Marine Division during World War II - Was wounded in action during fighting on Okinawa and received the Purple Heart - He was hit in the chest by enemy rifle fire and the bullet travelled downward and out his back - He attempted a comeback on the 1946 Colgate team, but after the first half of the first game he realized that the pace was too tiring for someone coming back from his injuries. 
George Thomas
Harold ‘Whitey’ Anderson
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate freshman football – 1929 - Colgate baseball - Colgate basketball – 1931, 1932, 1933 (captain) - Captain of an All American High School Football team that participated in a tournament in Wisconsin in 1929 - Athletic director and basketball coach at Binghamton High School where he had a record of 114-14 - Athletic director as well as head football, baseball, and basketball coach at Manlius High School - Red Cross field director in Europe during World War II - He was attached to the 319th Infantry with the 80th Division - Received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star 
Harold 'Whitey' Anderson
Donald ‘Barney’ Coates
- Colgate football – 1943 - He got his masters degree from Syracuse and was a teacher, coach, and principal at Baldwinsville Academy in New York - Lieutenant in the Marines in World War II and the Korean War - In 1945 he was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California - He served in Japan after V-J day setting up athletic and recreation programs for US soldiers - He was recalled to active duty in August 1950 and served in Korea where he planned operations, coordinated air strikes, and prepared artillery and supporting fire in the East Central front 
Donald 'Barney' Coates
Walter ‘Walt’ Piebes
- Colgate football – 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949 - Coached football and baseball at John Jay High School in New York - Left for the Army the day after the Syracuse game in 1945 - Returned to Colgate in 1947 after serving with the infantry James ‘Jim’ Gribbon
- Colgate football – 1937, 1938 - Colgate lacrosse – 1939 - Colgate basketball - 2nd lieutenant with the Army Air Force in World War II - In March 1943 he was training at Maxwell Field, Alabama - In August 1944 his plane was lost in a crossing of the Himalayas and he was reported as missing in action - He was never found and was declared dead on April 8, 1946 - A monument for him is located at Fort William McKinley in Manila 
James Gribbon
Frederick Peterson
- Colgate football – 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 (captain) - In 1917 he was offered the head football coaching jobs at Colgate and Williams but turned both down to report to the officers’ training camp at Plattsburg, New York - Served as a 1st lieutenant in the Army in World War I. Spent 7 months in France with the 301st Field Artillery. - Was arrested in 1941 for selling $100,000 worth of fraudulent stock in a company he claimed was producing natural gas in Ohio Robert ‘Bob’ Meeker
- Colgate football – 1940, 1941 - In 1942 he was training at the Naval Pre-Flight School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina - In 1943 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant and received his Navy Wings of Gold after a training course at Pensacola, Florida Robert ‘Bob’ Endres
- Colgate football – 1941, 1942 - Enlisted in the Army in August 1942 - Served in the European Theatre as a technical sergeant with the military police and as a translator Raymond ‘Red’ Fowler
- Colgate football – 1914 - In 1914 he was an ambulance driver in Africa. There were 55 ambulances in his group and he reported that 2 of them were named Colgate and Hamilton. - He hosted Andy Kerr at his home in Tucson, Arizona when he would visit in the 1950’s LeRoy Hunt Jr.
- Colgate football – 1938 - Entered the Marines as a reserve 2nd lieutenant in 1939 - In 1943 he was a captain in the Marines when he was wounded - Served on Tinian in the Mariana Islands as a major in 1944 - He was the battalion executive officer on Tinian for John Greer, another Colgate football player - His father was a highly decorated four-star general in the Marines David Belford ‘Belf’ West
- Colgate football – 1914, 1915, 1916, 1919 (captain) - Colgate basketball – 1916, 1917 - Colgate baseball - Holds the Colgate record with a 52 yard field goal against Syracuse in 1919 - Lieutenant in the 307th Field Artillery in the Army in World War I - Trained the Camp Dix football team along with Ellery Huntington Jr. and Bill Neilsen - In 1918 he did special training with the 78th Division for track events in the AEF Championships 
David Belford West
Alan Vedder
- Colgate football – 1950, 1951, 1952 - Was in the Air Force ROTC at Colgate - In 1954 he was a second lieutenant and was named to the Air Force – Japan All-Star football team Frank Muehlheuser
- Colgate football – 1943, 1946, 1947 - Drafted by the New York Giants in the 8th round (64th overall) of the 1947 NFL Draft - Boston Yanks (NFL) – 1948 - New York Bulldogs (NFL) – 1949 - Enlisted as a private in the Army in October 1944 Bart Carroll
- Colgate football – 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917 - Colgate basketball – 1918 (manager) - Colgate senior class vice-president - Rochester Jeffersons (APFA/NFL) – 1920 - Assistant football coach at St. Lawrence in 1919 and 1920 - Assistant football coach at Colgate in 1921 - Football and track coach at Hamilton College from 1923-1926 - Served in the Army in World War I - Trained at Camp Upton on Long Island, New York - Trained every day with amateur boxing champion, Al Reich, while at the camp. - Was seriously injured in a football game against Camp Dix in 1918. His fractured ankle required a stay in a Newark hospital, but only after he played for a quarter with the injury. Walter ‘Walt’ Cowie
- Colgate football – 1945 - Finished his Naval training at Colgate and was transferred to Dartmouth on November 1, 1945 - Served aboard the USS Fullam as a seaman 2nd class in 1946 
Walt Cowie
Lowell ‘Larry’ Camps
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate track – 1947, 1948 (captain) - Colgate senior class president - Served in the Army in World War II - Was in the 5th Infantry Division (nicknamed Red Diamond, or the Red Devils) - Three year war veteran with five battle stars Joseph Graham Schenck Jr.
- Colgate football – did not letter - Enlisted in the Army in 1942 and was called to active duty in 1943 - In November 1944 he was on the front lines in Belgium and in December 1944 he was captured by the Germans and held as a POW until April 1945 Walter ‘Walt’ Hartwell
- Colgate football – did not letter - Phi Kappa Psi - Colgate 13 - In the Army in 1943 Robert ‘Bob’ Kerrigan
- Colgate football – did not letter - In the Army in 1943 William ‘Billy’ Fox
- Colgate football – 1940, 1941, 1942 - Joined the Marines in 1943 - Completed training at Parris Island in 1943 and was sent to Quantico for officer’s training. - Was discharged in September 1943 after suffering a serious back injury during training. John ‘Johnny’ Pflug
- Colgate football – 1930, 1931, 1932 - Was offered a baseball contract by the Brooklyn Dodgers, but chose to attend Colgate instead - Won the Olympic sailing trials with his brother, but he decided to return to Colgate instead of going to Los Angeles for the Games. - Was a noted polo player and won the Junior National Indoor Championship for the Brooklyn Riding and Driving Club - Later won the National Indoor Polo Championship - Played for the New York Athletic Club, Squadron A Indoors, and Laddie Sanford’s Hurricanes - Served as an officer in the Coast Guard during World War II - Stationed on a landing craft carrier in the Pacific theatre 
Johnny Pflug
Frederick ‘Fred’ Nichols Jr.
- Colgate football – 1935 - Was a 2nd lieutenant in the Army in World War II Robert Bowman Jr.
- Colgate football – 1943, 1946 - In 1944 he was assigned to Cornell Midshipman School - Served as a lieutenant commander in the Navy in World War II 
Robert Bowman
Lloyd Scoville
- Colgate football – 1936, 1937, 1938 - Was a lieutenant in the Navy in World War II - Ran a physical training program and served in the North Atlantic John ‘Jack’ Shaughnessy Jr.
- Colgate football – 1952, 1953 - Served in the Air Force from 1955-1963 seeing action in the Korean War and the Vietnam War while advancing to the rank of captain - He was shot down in Vietnam and declared dead on February 3, 1963 - It was reported in 1973 that Shaughnessy survived the crash and died from torture as a prisoner of war - “In late December 1961 four RB-26s from the 4400th were amongst the first American combat aircraft to go to Vietnam, under the Farm Gate program. In theory these aircraft were to be used to train South Vietnamese Air Force crews, but in fact they were used in combat by their American crews, something the became public knowledge when on 3 February 1963 one aircraft was shot down, with the loss of Captains John F. Shaughnessy, Jr. and John P. Bartley.” - http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&&ID=81491 - “Detachment 2A of the 1st Air Commando Group was located at Bien Hoa Air Base and flew several different types of aircraft – B-26s, T-28s, and C-47s – in support of the South Vietnamese. On 03 Feb 1963, B-26 tail number 44-35692 was shot down while conducting a strafing run against a Viet Cong unit in the Mekong Delta” - http://vietnamwallapp.com/fifty.html - He was awarded the Purple Heart, Air Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Air Force Longevity Award, Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - His name can be found on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC on Panel 1E, Line 18 Armando ‘Army’ Caseria
- Colgate football – 1938, 1939, 1940 - Colgate intramural boxing and wrestling - Won the Colgate 175lb boxing championship in 1940 - Konosioni - Joined the Air Force in 1942 - Served 26 years before retiring with the rank of colonel - After retirement he became a flight instructor at Riverside Airport in California and an instructor of aviation at Riverside City College 
Army Caseria - Photo by Hans Ku
Robert ‘Bob’ Clarke
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate lacrosse – 1940 - Won the Colgate 175lb boxing championship in 1941 - Served in the Navy as a fighter pilot in World War II - Joined the Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team in late 1946 with the rank of lieutenant commander - Was the leader of the Blue Angels team in 1947 and 1948 and introduced their famous diamond formation - Retired from the Navy in 1965 - Buried in Section 8, Grave 474-LH of Arlington National Cemetery 
Bob Clarke
Martin ‘Marty’ McDonough
- Colgate football – 1933, 1934, 1935 - Colgate hockey – 1934, 1935, 1936 - Colgate baseball - Fitchburg High School football and baseball coach - Took a leave of absence from the high school and joined the Navy in 1942 - In May 1943 he was a lieutenant training at the Jacksonville, Florida Naval Air Station and coaching their baseball team - Served overseas in 1945 and was discharged late in the year as a lieutenant commander 
Marty McDonough
Jennings ‘Hammer’ Marburger
- Colgate football – 1946, 1947, 1948 - Prior to attending Colgate he enlisted in the Navy and served in the Pacific during World War II John Bek
- Colgate football – 1916 - Colgate freshman basketball – 1916 - Colgate baseball - Joined Troop M of the First Cavalry in the National Guard in Avon, New York in late 1916 - In 1917 he was in the Navy and serving aboard the USS Iowa 
John Bek
Alfred Fassnacht
- Colgate football – 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 - Prior to attending Colgate he served as a captain in the Army in World War II James ‘Jim’ Laird
- Colgate football – 1916, 1919 - Colgate baseball - Colgate track – did not letter - Was elected captain for the 1920 football season, but he was barred from playing because he was declared a professional. Laird was found to have played for the Buffalo Prospects in a game against a professional team the day after the 1919 Syracuse game. - Went on to play professionally for the Rochester Jefferson (1920-1921), Buffalo All-Americans (1920-1922), Canton Bulldogs (1921), New York Brickley Giants (1921), Union Quakers of Philadelphia (1921), Providence Steam Roller (1925-1928), and Staten Island Stapletons (1931) - Head football coach at Norwich University from 1923-1925 and 1932-1934 - Served in the Marines for two years during World War I 
Jim Laird
Robert ‘Bob’ Webster
- Colgate football – 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921 (captain) - Colgate basketball – 1918 - Colgate track – 1921 - Enlisted in the Navy during World War I 
Bob Webster
Joseph ‘Joe’ Burczak
- Colgate football – 1943, 1944 - Colgate wrestling - Served in the Marines during World War II Anthony ‘Tony’ Shine
- Colgate football – 1960 - When he was 11 years old he became bedridden with polio for several months. He beat the disease, but the doctors had doubts about whether he would ever walk normally or regain the strength in his hands. He had to endure muscle transplant operations and physical therapy to restore the use of his left hand and eventually learned to write proficiently with both his left and right hands. He learned to walk without a limp and eventually started for his high school football team. - Joined the Air Force in 1961 and early in his career was an instructor pilot - Served in the Air Force as a captain during the Vietnam War - His younger brother, Jonathan Shine, was killed in action on October 15, 1970 in Vietnam. Tony escorted his brother’s body home for burial and volunteered for a second tour of duty in Vietnam. - His other brother, Alexander Shine, was seriously wounded in Vietnam and was awarded the Silver Star - In total, Tony flew over 100 missions in Vietnam flying in an F-105 before switching to an A-7D - Shot down in Vietnam on December 2, 1972 and listed as missing in action. He was declared dead on January 7, 1980. - He was officially classified as missing in action until his remains were discovered in 1995 and they were confirmed as his on August 2, 1996. They were returned home and he was buried with full military honors as a lieutenant colonel in Arlington National Cemetery. - The US Air Force’s Lt. Col. Anthony C. Shine Award is given annually to a fighter pilot for proficiency and professionalism in flying a fighter aircraft - His name can be found on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC on Panel 1W, Line 93 
Tony Shine
William Childs
- Colgate football – 1920, 1921, 1922 - Colgate hockey – 1922, 1923 - Served in the Navy on a sub chaser for two years during World War I - Contracted influenza towards the end of war and he suffered from side effects for several years, culminating in a disappearance in January 1920. He was found wandering in a confused state in Hoboken, New Jersey and was said to be suffering from walking typhoid. He recovered and returned to school. William ‘Bill’ Wetten
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate baseball - Was a Marine trainee at Colgate during World War II - He was discharged in November 1945 and left school Frank Solana
- Colgate football – 1954, 1955, 1956 - Served in the Air Force for 20 years as a criminal investigator - He spent the last 4 years of his career as the Commander of the Office of Special Investigations and was awarded his fourth Meritorious Service Medal - He served in places all over the world, including Japan, Spain, Portugal, and the Azores E. Russell Allen
- Colgate football – 1973, 1974 - After graduating he entered the Navy as a flight officer in a P-3 Orion - He was later stationed with VP-50 at NAS Moffett Field, California and was deployed to the western Pacific to hunt Russian submarines - In the mid-1980’s he retired from active duty with the rank of commander - Continued to serve as a Naval Reservist and tested new software for the P-3 as a defense contractor 
Russell Allen
Arthur ‘Art’ Stenberg
- Colgate football – 1949, 1950, 1951 - Konosioni - Served as a corporal in the Army during the Korean War Max Levine
- Colgate football – 1961 - Served in the Marines from 1962-1965, retiring as a first lieutenant John ‘Jack’ McMahon Jr.
- Colgate football – 1950, 1951, 1952 - Served as a pilot in the Marines from 1953-1957 William ‘Bill’ Halter
- Colgate football – 1949, 1950 - Served in the Army Air Force during World War II John Rossmiller
- Colgate football – 1997, 1998 - Enlisted in the United States Army in 2007 - Assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment - Deployed in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2013 as part of a Joint Special Operations Task Force Eric Tee
- Colgate football – 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 - Joined the United States Marine Corps in 2002 - Has made multiple deployments as an infantry and reconnaissance officer and is still serving in the Marines 
Eric Tee
Edwin Schwenk
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate baseball - Had a tryout as a pitcher with the New York Giants - Served as a lieutenant in the Navy during World War II - He was a plankowner (original member of the crew) of the aircraft carrier USS Kearsage - After his time in the Navy he returned to Colgate and completed his education Warren Anderson
- Colgate football – 1941, 1942 - Navy football – did not letter - Enlisted in the Navy after graduating from Colgate and trained to be a fighter pilot - Did not see combat and was discharged in 1945 - Spent his entire professional career with the Union Carbide Corporation advancing to the position of President in 1979 and Chairman in 1982 - India sought to have him extradited from the United States as a result of a 1984 poisonous gas leak at the company’s plant in Bhopal, India which killed thousands - Anderson visited the plant four days after the accident and was arrested, but he paid his bail and never returned Thomas ‘Tom’ Johnson
- Colgate football – 1989, 1990 - Worked for financial firms in New York City and Boston prior to the September 11th attacks - Joined the Marines and began boot camp at Parris Island, SC in November 2002 finishing as the honor graduate - Served tours in Iraq and was discharged in 2006 - Awarded Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Medal of Good Conduct - Buried at Massachusetts Military Cemetery in Bourne, MA 
Tom Johnson
Carroll ‘Tad’ McLoughlin
- Colgate football – 1944, 1947, 1948 - Served as a Corpsman and Pharmacist’s Mate in the United States Navy during World War II John Rudy
- Colgate football – 1943 - Served in the Marines in World War II William ‘Bill’ McLellan
- Colgate football – 1943 - Brown football – 1946, 1947, 1948 - Inducted into the Brown University Hall of Fame in 1998 - Served in the Marines during World War II and in the Marines Corps Reserve during the Korean War - Was aboard the USS Missouri in September 1945 and witnessed the Japanese surrender to Allied Forces Arthur Ritchko
- Colgate football – 1943 - Served in the Marines during World War II - Landed in Nagasaki with the 2nd Marine Division and spent a year in Japan with the occupation force George ‘Jim’ Kershaw Jr.
- Colgate football – 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948 - Played for the New York Giants in 1949 - Served in the Navy during World War II Victor ‘Vic’ Younkins
- Colgate football – 1911 - Washington & Jefferson football – 1912, 1913, 1914 - Served in World War I with the University of Pittsburgh Base Hospital Unit no. 27 William 'Will’ Younkins
- Colgate football – 1911 - Washington & Jefferson football – 1912, 1913, 1914 - Served in World War I with the University of Pittsburgh Base Hospital Unit no. 27 William “Bill” Owens
- Colgate football – 1949, 1950, 1951 (captain) - Joined the Marine Corps after graduation in 1952 and rose to the rank of Captain - Captain of the Lejeune Marine Corp football team - Trained with the Underwater Demolition Team 
Bill Owens
Albert ‘Ace’ Simmons
- Colgate football – 1950, 1951, 1952 - First African American member of Phi Tau fraternity - Served in the Air Force after graduating Vincent Jackson
- Colgate football – did not letter - Attended Colgate and Harper College after serving in the Navy for the final year of World War II Samuel Thompson Jr.
- Colgate football – 1951 - Served in the Air Force for two years following graduation Peter Woodams
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Navy during World War II and the Korean War - Received lieutenant (junior grade) rating in 1953 while serving aboard the USS Vesuvius William ‘Bill’ Fitzhenry
- Colgate football – did not letter - Enlisted in the Air Force after graduating from law school and served in the Judge Advocate General Corps in Houston, Texas J. Francis Sugrue
- Colgate football – 1945 - Served in the Navy during World War II - Captain in the Cambridge, Massachusetts police and served 37 years on the force Donald Kreitz
- Colgate football – did not letter - Enlisted in the Marine Corps and served in the Pacific in World War II aboard the USS Indiana - Was selected for officer training at Colgate and graduated in 1947 - Graduated from law school at the University of Minnesota and was called back to active duty during the Korean War - Served with the Marine Air Squadron in El Toro, California and was released as a major in 1952 George Nilsen
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Marine Corps in World War II Peter Leyden III
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Navy during World War II prior to arriving at Colgate Joseph Petrozzini
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Army in World War II Theodore Richardson
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Army Air Corps in World War II Richard ‘Dick’ Noia
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served as a first lieutenant in the Marine Corps in Korea where he was seriously wounded - Received the Purple Heart Sidney 'Sid' Walton
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1941 - Left school for 3 years to serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a pilot instructor in World War II - Was stationed in Trent, Ontario and Battleford, Saskatchewan 
Sidney Walton
Peter Nagle
- Colgate football – 1966, 1967, 1968 - Served in the Army Harold ‘Harry’ LaBore
- Colgate football – did not letter - Served in the Navy Charles ‘Chuck’ Beemus
- Colgate football – 1952, 1953, 1954 - Colgate track – 1953 - 1954 AP 1st team All-East at center - Served in the Air Force as a navigator 
Charles Beemus
Craig Randall
- Colgate football – 1955 - Colgate lacrosse – 1955, 1956 - Colgate basketball – 1956 (manager) - Colgate Thirteen - Konosioni - Enlisted in the Army and started his coaching career at West Point in football, lacrosse, and swimming - After his time in the Army he spent years coaching football at Wichita State, Texas A&M, LSU, Air Force, and Mississippi State Frank Greene
- Colgate football – 1904, 1905 - Colgate basketball – 1904, 1905, 1906 (captain) - Served in the Army in World War I - Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 1917 
Frank Greene
Donald Perricone
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1950 - Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Air Force and retired as a captain - Continued to serve in the USAF Reserves, FAA, and private civil air patrols Raymond Krehel
- Colgate football – did not letter - Colgate wrestling - Colgate track - Freshman baseball team - Served in the US Coast Guard in World War II and was a veteran of five assault landings in the Pacific Warren ‘Brud’ Davis
- Colgate football – 1945, 1948, 1949 (captain), 1950 - First non-senior to captain a Colgate football team - 1950 Blue-Gray Game - Served in the Marines for 2 years 
Warren Davis
Frank O’Toole
- Colgate football – did not letter - Freshman football team – 1950 - Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Air Force in 1953 after participating in Colgate’s Air Force ROTC program - Honorably discharged from the Air Force Reserves in 1961 as a 1st lieutenant John 'Jack' Owens
- Colgate football – 1952, 1953 - His 100yd INT TD vs Cornell in 1952 is still the longest in school history - Served in the Air Force as a lieutenant - Was stationed in Japan in 1956 Paul Mulligan
- Colgate football – 1948, 1949 - Served in the Army in the Korean War - Awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster Richard ‘Rich’ Heath
- Colgate football – 1949 - Colgate hockey – 1950, 1951 - Colgate tennis – 1951 - Inducted into the USTA New England Hall of Fame in 2007 - Served in the Navy for 2 years David Stowell
- Colgate football – 1904, 1905, 1906 - Colgate basketball – 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907 (captain) - Colgate track – 1906, 1907 - Graduated from Columbia Medical School - Served in the Army as a 1st lieutenant in World War I Mott Palmer
- Colgate football – 1905, 1908 - Served as a 1st lieutenant in the 551st Engineers in World War I - Honorably discharged in December 1918 Frank Porter
- Colgate football – 1902 - Served in the Army as a lieutenant of engineers in France from January 1918 through his discharge in August 1919 - Got married in Paris, France in November 1919 Matthew Pack
- Colgate football – 1909 (manager) - Skull and Scroll - Was injured in the 1906 Colgate – Syracuse bleacher collapse - Served as a 1st lieutenant in the Army in World War I with the 112th Field Artillery - He died in 1957 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 30, Grave 714-1 
Matthew Pack - Arlington National Cemetery
Oscar Hollenbeck
- Colgate football – 1907, 1908, 1909 - 1919 – Akron Indians - Served in the Army in the 134th Field Artillery in World War I - Head of the Veteran’s Employment Service during World War II Howard ‘Pug’ Ellis
- Colgate football – 1910 - Served in the Army in World War I Charles ‘Chuck’ Stewart
- Colgate football – 1913, 1914, 1915 - Colgate basketball – 1914, 1915, 1916 - Colgate football assistant coach – 1923 - Adams (NYSL) – 1919-20 - Amsterdam (NYSL) – 1920-23 - Rochester Jeffersons – 1920 - Akron Pros – 1923 - Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame - Transferred to Colgate from Cornell - Served in the Army in World War I Charles ‘Harry’ Nunn
- Colgate football – 1911, 1913 - Colgate football assistant coach – 1916 - Served in the Army Air Service for 19 months in World War I - Trained at Wilbur Wright Aviation Field in Dayton, Ohio in June 1918 - Flying instructor at Brooks Field, Texas in November 1918 Milton Proctor
- Colgate football – 1907 - Served as a captain in the Army, Field Artillery, in World War I Charles ‘Stan’ Knapp
- Colgate football – 1913 - Graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons - Served as a private in the Medical Reserve Corps in World War I Wallace ‘Wa’ Swarthout
- Colgate football – 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914 (captain) - Colgate basketball – 1912 - Clarkson football coach – 1916 - Served as a sergeant in the Army in World War I - Trained at Camp Devens, Massachusetts in 1918 Lawrence ‘Larry’ Sparfeld
- Colgate football – 1914 - Syracuse football – 1916 - Served in the Army in World War I Raymond Mansfield
- Colgate football – 1916 (manager) - Served in the Army Medical Corps in World War I, seeing action in France in the battles of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive John Barnes
- Colgate football – 1944 - Muhlenberg football - Served in the 2nd Marine Division in World War II and the Korean War Brewer Drowne
- Colgate football – 1920 - Served as a sergeant in the 106th Machine Gun Battalion, 27th Division in World War I Francis ‘Honk’ Connors
- Colgate football – 1912 - Colgate basketball – 1913 - Trinity College football - Seton Hall football - Served for 30 years as a police officer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts - Served in the Army in World War I Allan Thompson
- Colgate football – 1904 (manager) - Served in the Navy in World War I and World War II - Began his career as an ensign and retired as a lieutenant commander - In World War II he commanded a ship carrying lend lease materials to Russia Howard Curtis
- Colgate football – 1917 - Served in the Navy in World War I STILL TO COME!
- Bob Smith - Donald Stewart - Doug Curtis - Mike Ryan - Mike Burton |