Lt. Clinton Dillard Castleberry Jr. (October 10, 1923 – November 7, 1944) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

player in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

, a halfback for the

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wre ...

. Future head coach

Bobby Dodd Robert Lee Dodd (November 11, 1908 – June 21, 1988) was an American college football player and coach, college baseball coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Georgia Tech from 1945 to 1966, compil ...

, then an assistant, said that if Castleberry had lived to finish his playing career “he’d have probably been an All-American for three years and been the greatest back in Georgia Tech history.”

College football

Castleberry showed extraordinary ability as a Georgia Tech "pony" back, standing at only and weighing only . At Boys High School in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, he averaged 171 rushing yards per game and scored 102 points. In

, freshmen were ruled eligible to play varsity ball as college rosters were drained by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, which allowed Castleberry to display his spectacular prowess early. On October 3,

, Georgia Tech beat Notre Dame for the first time since

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...

, especially impressive as the game was played in

South Bend South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

and Notre Dame had not lost a game in two years. Castleberry led Georgia Tech in both passing and rushing yards, even after Notre Dame head coach

Frank Leahy Francis William Leahy (August 27, 1908 – June 21, 1973) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He served as the head football coach at Boston College from 1939 to 1940 and at ...

had been warned by a scout that Castleberry was "the most dangerous runner in America." Against national power

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

, Castleberry led Tech to an impressive

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

win on October 24 in Annapolis, broadcast worldwide via the

Armed Forces Radio Network The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...

. The momentum changer of the game occurred when Navy was driving for a score near the Tech goal line. Castleberry was put in to play defense on a passing situation on fourth down. He anticipated the Navy pass and stepped in front of the intended receiver for an interception. He scampered away with a dazzling run of 95 yards for a touchdown. Tech coach Bobby Dodd described it as “a magnificent run that I can still follow step by step in my mind. It shook Navy to its keel, and Tech won 21-0.” Dodd called it Castleberry’s greatest play. The national press began to take notice of Castleberry. Georgia Tech won its first nine games and climbed to a top five national ranking. During that ninth win, Castleberry injured his knee in a hard-fought 20–7 win over

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

in Atlanta. Despite the injury, Castleberry played in the final two games of the season, but not quite at full speed, and Georgia Tech dropped both. On

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whi ...

, Tech traveled to the Cotton Bowl in

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

, but lost a tight game to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, 14–7. Castleberry's injury improved for the bowl game, yet he was still not quite a hundred percent and the team finished at 9–2. Castleberry was third in the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and har ...

voting, behind winner

Frank Sinkwich Frank Francis Sinkwich Sr. (October 10, 1920 – October 22, 1990) was an American football player and coach. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1942 playing for the University of Georgia, making him the first recipient from the Southeastern Conferen ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and runner-up Paul Governali of

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

, both seniors. This was the highest a freshman had ever placed in the Heisman voting. Castleberry's number 19 is the only football jersey Georgia Tech has ever retired.

Army Air Forces

Georgia Tech Football Teams war memorial plaque

After the Cotton Bowl, Castleberry enlisted in the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War ...

in early 1943 and planned to return to play football at Georgia Tech after the war. He underwent surgery on February 2 at the Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta to repair his damaged knee. Castleberry withdrew from Georgia Tech on February 18 and reported for military duty in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. After a physical evaluation by Army doctors, it was determined that he was fit for service. Castleberry completed Army flight school training and earned his wings in the summer of 1944 and was sent to the Mediterranean theater in the fall. He co-piloted a

B-26 Marauder The Martin B-26 Marauder is an American twin-engined medium bomber that saw extensive service during World War II. The B-26 was built at two locations: Baltimore, Maryland, and Omaha, Nebraska, by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in t ...

bomber known as "Dream Girl" and was stationed in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. In the early morning hours of November 7, Lt. Castleberry took off from

Roberts Field Redmond Municipal Airport (Roberts Field) is in Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is owned and operated by the city of Redmond, Oregon. It is the main commercial airport in Central Oregon, with nonstop scheduled passenger airline fl ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast� ...

with another B-26 to continue a ferrying run up the coast toward

Dakar, Senegal Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 20 ...

. Neither of the two planes made it to their destination. An extensive six-day search involving American and British search crews was conducted. On November 23, 1944, all crew members were officially re-classified from

MIA Mia, MIA, or M.I.A. may refer to: Music Artists * M.I.A. (rapper) (born 1975), English rapper and singer * M.I.A. (band), 1980s punk rock band from Orange County, California * MIA., a German rock/pop band formed in 1997 * Mia (singer) (born 1983) ...

to KNB (killed, no body) after a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

plane observed unidentified wreckage believed to have been from the missing planes.

References

External links

History Atlanta
– Clint Castleberry
Digital Library of Georgia
– Clint Castleberry * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castleberry, Clint 1923 births 1940s missing person cases 1944 deaths American football running backs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Missing in action of World War II Missing person cases in Africa People lost at sea United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces bomber pilots of World War II United States Army Air Forces personnel killed in World War II

College football

Army Air Forces

See also

References

External links