Fields of Battle

Book excerpt: A riveting story of football, wartime, and boys becoming men—from facing off in the 1942 Rose Bowl to serving together in WWII. In the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the 1942 Rose Bowl was moved from Pasadena to Durham, North Carolina, out of fear of Japanese attacks on the West Coast. Duke University faced off against underdog Oregon State College, with both teams preparing for a grueling fight on the football field while their thoughts drifted to the battlefields they would soon encounter. On New Year’s Day, the teams played one of the most unforgettable games in history. Shortly afterward, many of the players and coaches entered the military and would quickly become brothers on the battlefield. Scattered around the globe, the lives of Rose Bowl participants would intersect in surprising ways, as they served in Iwo Jima and Normandy, Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Bulge. In one powerful encounter, OSC’s Frank Parker saved the life of Duke’s Charles Haynes in Italy. And one OSC player, Jack Yoshihara, a Japanese-American, never had the chance to play in the game or serve his country, as he was sent to an internment camp in Idaho. In Fields of Battle, Brian Curtis sheds light on a little-known slice of American history with an intimate account of the teamwork, grit, and determination that took these men onto the gridiron and into combat.