On February 12, 1945, Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation paid host to several noted professional and collegiate coaches and athletes. These men traveled to various Army staging grounds delivering athletic programs to men as they prepared to journey overseas.

Back row:

Dean “Deaner” Nesmith. Played football for Kansas and one year of pro for the New York football Yankees, graduating in 1937. He returned to KU and administered sports medicine to the likes of Gale Sayers, Wilt Chamberlain, Jim Ryun, and Jo White.

Ethan Allen. Played baseball for the Cincinnati Reds among many other teams delivering four full seasons with a .300+ batting average and averaging .300 on his career.

Cecil Isbell. Head football coach at Purdue University and later for the Baltimore Colts. He played quarterback for the Green Bay Packers leading the league in passing percentage in 1941.

Howard “Hobby” Hobson. Coach of University of Oregon basketball where his team won three consecutive Pacific Coast Conference titles and the inaugural NCAA Basketball Tournament in 1939.

H. W. “Bill” Hargiss. Football coach at numerous schools including University of Kansas. He began his career at College of Emporia where he was one of the first to use the forward pass and the option pass. Later he would pioneer the use of the huddle at Oregon State. As a track coach he trained Olympic champion Glenn Cunningham

Front row:

Billy Cavanaugh. Boxing coach at West Point for 25 years

Major Frank G. Welch. Chief, Operations Section, Athletic Branch, Special Service Division

George T. White. Eastern intercollegiate athletic association. official, New Haven, Connecticut.

Dr. Seward Staley. Director of physical education, University of Illinois.