|
Andrew Jackson Lummus, Jr. (October 22, 1915 – March 8, 1945) was a two-sport athlete at Baylor University, a professional football player with the New York Giants, and an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He fought, and died, at the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II and received the Medal of Honor for his service. ==Biography== He was born in Ellis County, Texas on a cotton farm. He was the youngest child and only son of four born to Andrew Jackson Lummus Sr., and Laura Francis Lummus. He attended Ennis High School from September 1931 through May 1934, where he was a star in football and track. He received all-district honors for football in his sophomore and junior years. He dropped out before the end of his senior year due to the views of his family that the cost of graduating, such as buying a picture and gown, were too wasteful considering the ongoing Depression. This may also have been affected by a case of influenza he contracted. He finished his high school education at Texas Military College on a two-year sports scholarship and won all-conference honors for his participation in football. He graduated on May 28, 1937, receiving scholarship offers from Baylor University and Tulane University. He enrolled at Baylor on September 14, 1937. There, he was an All-Southwest Conference center fielder for three years and an outstanding end on the football team. Those three years, the Bears finished third in baseball, and Lummus was considered to be the best center fielder that had ever played for Baylor. In football he played first-string end wearing No. 53. For two consecutive years, he was nominated by the Associated Press to the All-American team, and in 1938 he made honorable mention for the team. He was sometimes compared to Sam Boyd. Before he left Baylor, he signed a minor league baseball contract with the Wichita Falls Spudders, and uniform player's contract with the New York Giants. On May 26, 1941, an Army Air Corps recruiter came to the school. Lummus and 25 other students enlisted in the Air Corps and signed up for a civilian flying school as a result of this visit. While waiting for the Air Corps to call him, Lummus inexplicably dropped out of Baylor; he was going to graduate soon, and his academic records showed satisfactory grades. The ongoing war in Europe was thought to have influenced this decision After dropping out, Lummus joined the Class D Spudders of the West Texas–New Mexico League. He played right and center field. On July 6, 1941, he played his 26th, and last, game for the Spudders. The Army Air Corps had called on him to honor his enlistment papers. In those 26 games, he had a .257 batting average. Lummus reported to Hicks Field, 40 miles northwest of Fort Worth, Texas, to enroll in the flight school there that was licensed by the Army but run by civilians. While making his first solo flight, he flew the flight plan and landed without flaw. While taxiing on the runway however, he accidentally clipped a fence with his wingtip, washing him out of flight school. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Jack Lummus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|