Olympic Gold Medalist. A native of California, he attended the University of Southern California. As a track and field athlete in 1935, he won the IC4A Championship in the 200-m and then competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he won the gold medal in the 4x100 m relay with Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, and Frank Wykoff, setting a new world record of 39.8. During World War II, he served as a pilot on a twin-engine A-20B Havoc in Thelepte, Tunisia. On January 4, 1943, he and two crew members took off to fly to Fonduck, Tunisia, to take part in the Battle of Kassarine Pass, but the plane disappeared and the three men were never heard from again. Although his date of death is listed as January 4, 1943, it is usually given as February 1, 1943. His memory is honored at the North African American (ABMC) Cemetery and Memorial in Tunis, Tunisia.
Olympic Gold Medalist. A native of California, he attended the University of Southern California. As a track and field athlete in 1935, he won the IC4A Championship in the 200-m and then competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he won the gold medal in the 4x100 m relay with Jesse Owens, Ralph Metcalfe, and Frank Wykoff, setting a new world record of 39.8. During World War II, he served as a pilot on a twin-engine A-20B Havoc in Thelepte, Tunisia. On January 4, 1943, he and two crew members took off to fly to Fonduck, Tunisia, to take part in the Battle of Kassarine Pass, but the plane disappeared and the three men were never heard from again. Although his date of death is listed as January 4, 1943, it is usually given as February 1, 1943. His memory is honored at the North African American (ABMC) Cemetery and Memorial in Tunis, Tunisia.
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