OSU
History Minute - July 7, 2000
Number
3 of a 12 part series: Honoring Oregon Staters who
died in WWII
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Swanson, as pictured in
The Beaver, 1937.
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Thomas
Albert “Tommy” Swanson entered
Oregon State as a freshman in 1933. He was
from The Dalles where he lived with his
father on Oak Street.
An
outstanding student leader, Tommy was president
of the Varsity “O” Association
and a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. He
was also an outstanding halfback and punter
for Lon Stiner’s football squads of
the mid-’30s and was on the last Beaver
team to play on Bell Field’s sawdust
surface.
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| Swanson
(35) gaining yards against the Washington
Huskies in this photo taken from The
Beaver, 1937. |
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After
graduating in education in 1937, Tommy accepted
a teaching/football coaching position in Milwaukie,
Ore., moving a year later to Albany to take on the
same duties at Albany High. For the next two years,
Swanson’s teams from the “Hub City”
reigned terror on squads from around the state.
As Tommy prepared to enter the service after the
start of the war, the expectation was that one day
he would be one of the great young coaches of the
region.
Entering
the Army in February 1942, Tommy moved quickly through
the ranks and by December held the rank of captain
in the 320th Inf. Reg. of the 35th Division.
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Members of an unidentified Army unit approach
Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944. Photo from U.S.
Army Archives.
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Swanson
took part in the assault on Omaha Beach, June 6,
1944. The likeable athlete with the full head of
hair somehow survived the landing and provided outstanding
leadership for his troops for the next seven days,
during which time they were involved in keeping
the German army pinned-down behind defensive positions
around the small Normandy town of St. Lo. He was
killed in action on June 13, 1944, and was awarded
the Silver Star posthumously for gallantry in combat.
Today,
the aquatic center in Albany is named in Swanson’s
honor.
In
1994, Oregon Staters Erin Haynes (’72), Bob
Edwards (’53), Dave Minard (’63), Ed Kneck
(’50) and associate athletic director Bob Herndon
visited Swanson’s grave as part of activities
surrounding celebration of the 50th anniversary
of the D-Day landing. Flowers were placed on his
grave. Said Haynes: “Tommy Swanson lost his
life over there and we wanted to pay tribute to
his courage and the collective courage of all the
brave men who stormed the beaches that day.”
--
By George
Edmonston Jr.
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