The new rules for lane selection are mentioned in The XIth Olympic Games: Official Report (1000). For a bit more on Germany’s lane assignments, see Albion Ross, “Germany Leads in Olympic Rowing as U.S. Fares Poorly in Consolation Round,” NYT, August 14, 1936. For the rest of their lives the boys and their coaches believed that Germany and Italy had been assigned the best lanes and they the worst—deliberately.
George Pocock describes his feelings upon hearing “God Save the King” in his “Memories.” Photographs taken before and after the gold medal race, as well as footage of the race itself, seem to confirm that the American boys were wearing mismatched outfits, not their official uniforms, during the race.
The psychological importance of having Don Hume in the boat can’t be overstated. All the boys brought it up when they talked about the race in later years. Al Ulbrickson is quoted as saying after the race, “When Don came back they simply decided nothing could stop them,” in Alan Gould’s “Huskies, It’s Revealed, All But Ready for Sick Beds Before Winning Race,” Associated Press, August 14, 1936.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Pocock epigraph is again from Newell (81). My account of what was happening inside the Husky Clipper during the gold medal race is based to a large extent on the journals, along with Joe’s own recollections. Other sources include Hodak’s 1988 interview with Gordon Adam; my interviews with Marilynn and Michael Moch; a voice recording of Moch’s account, available at http://huskycrew.com/bobmoch.mp3; Wayne Cody’s KIRO Radio interview with Adam, Hume, Hunt, and White, August 1, 1986; the video “U of W Crew—The Early Years,” cited above; and Pocock’s “Memories.” Bob Moch mentions counting down the remaining strokes in his November 2004 interview with Michael Socolow; Jim McMillin, in his November 2004 interview with Socolow, mentions shouting the F word.
Major sources for that day also include “Beresford’s Third Gold Medal,” Manchester Guardian, August 15, 1936; Arthur J. Daley, “Fifth Successive Eight-Oared Rowing Title Is Captured by U.S.,” NYT, August 15, 1936; Grantland Rice, “In the Sportlight,” Reading Eagle, January 21, 1937; J. F. Abramson, “Washington 8 Wins Title of World’s Greatest Crew,” HT, August 15, 1936; Tommy Lovett, “Went to Town as Bob Knocked” (an undated clipping in the John White materials, no source); Alan Gould, “U.W. Crew Noses Out Italians,” Associated Press, August 14, 1936; Al Ulbrickson’s already-cited “Now! Now! Now!” in Collier’s; and The XIth Olympic Games: Official Report. My descriptions of Hitler and his entourage are based on photographs and several contemporaneous newsreels shot that day.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The Pocock quote is from his previously cited letter to the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen, reprinted in Rowing News Bulletin. Royal Brougham’s firsthand account of the race was never published because of the news writers’ strike in Seattle; however, he hearkened back to it in “That Day Recalled,” PI, July 24, 1976. The comment about Moch’s shortness is from my interview with Marilynn Moch. The boys’ tears on the podium are documented in Gail Wood, “Olympians to Be Honored,” an undated clipping from the Olympian in Joe Rantz’s scrapbook. The all-night escapade in Berlin is documented in some detail in the three journals. Among other things, it involved many bottles of champagne, a visit to Berlin’s notorious Femina nightclub, and winding up on the wrong train and arriving far out in Potsdam as the sun rose the next morning.
EPILOGUE
The epigraph is once again Pocock, this time from a speech he gave to the University of Washington Varsity Boat Club in 1965. Audio is available on the Husky Crew website at http://www.huskycrew.org/audio-video/Pocock65mp3.mp3. McMillin mentions stopping to visit relatives in New York in his 2004 interview with Socolow. Johnny White’s journey home was explained to me in my interview with Mary Helen Tarbox. Shorty Hunt’s arrival home is celebrated in “When Olympic Athletes Were Honored by Valley,” Puyallup Valley Tribune, September 29, 1936. Pocock’s side trip to England is discussed in “One-Man Navy Yard” (49) and Newell (111). Bobby Moch’s post-Olympics experiences were explained to me in my interviews with Marilynn Moch, with some details also from the Montesano Vidette, November 11, 1999.
The boys’ extraordinary accomplishment in the 1937 Poughkeepsie Regatta is best chronicled in “Washington Crews Again Sweep Hudson Regatta,” NYT, June 23, 1937. Royal Brougham describes the evening the boys parted ways in “Ulbrickson Plans Arrival on July 5,” PI, June 23, 1937.
Göring’s “All that is lacking” proclamation can be found in Shirer, Rise and Fall (300). The unidentified American’s comment is from a chilling piece of prewar propaganda, Stanley McClatchie, Look to Germany: The Heart of Europe (Berlin: Heinrich Hoffmann, 1936). For much more on the reception Riefenstahl’s Olympia received, see Bach, Leni (196–213).
Many details of the boys’ subsequent lives are drawn from a series of obituaries. See the online notes for individual citations. Ulbrickson’s clear recollection of the day he first put Joe in the 1936 varsity boat is recounted in George Varnell, “Memories of Crew: Al Recalls the Highlights of a Long, Honored Career,” ST (no date, a clipping in Joe Rantz’s scrapbook). Some details of Ebright’s later career are from Arthur M. Arlett’s 1968 interview with him. The ten-year anniversary rows are chronicled in a series of news articles and local television broadcasts through these years.
It is a small but noteworthy irony that among the first Allied troops who crossed the Elbe River and met up with Russian troops in April of 1945—encircling Berlin and sealing Hitler’s fate—was a small band of resourceful American boys, rowing a captured German racing shell.
INDEX
The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. To find the corresponding locations in the text of this digital version, please use the “search” function on your e-reader. Note that not all terms may be searchable.
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations.
Adam, Gordy, 157, 186, 220, 228, 238, 239, 246, 280–81, 282, 283, 286, 290, 312, 340–41, 357, 363, 366
AEG Kabelwerk, 333
African Americans, 20, 36, 37, 259–61
Allan, Herbert, 272
Alumnus, 84, 99, 107
Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), 177, 224–26
American Legion, 286
American Olympic Committee (AOC), 177, 224–26, 284, 286, 291–92, 294, 303, 304–5
American Star, 110
American Weekly, 10
Angriff, Der, 297
Anti-Nazi Federation, 225
anti-Semitism, 19, 20, 76, 100–101, 144, 224–26, 252, 289–90, 297, 308–9, 332–34, 359, 367
Associated Press (AP), 105, 118, 165, 175, 205, 322
Auschwitz concentration camp, 333
Australia, 310, 312, 313, 324, 325, 334
barges, 71–72, 83, 84, 96, 106
Barrett, Bosh, 358
Barrow, Dan, 293
baseball, 11, 18, 27, 46, 89, 111, 173–74
basketball, 14, 40, 89, 142, 233, 292
Beck, Broussais C., Jr., 150–51
Berkenkamp, Eugene, 183, 247, 248
Berlin, 19–21, 76, 100–103, 142, 207–9, 251–53, 297–300, 299, 301, 306, 311, 316, 321–22, 332, 355, 359–60, 367
Berlin Philharmonic, 316, 360
Bingham, J. Lyman, 177
Black Sunday, 174–75
Blake, Eddie, 63
Blessing, Don, 86, 232
Blomberg, Werner von, 349
Blue Lyres, 72
Board of Rowing Stewards, 151
Boat Race, 323, 364
Boeckmann, Dee, 304
Boeing Airplane Co., 83, 361, 363
Bogo, Mike, 189, 190, 272
Bolles, Tom, 14–15, 21, 41–42, 48–49, 50, 71–72, 77–78, 82, 83–84, 85, 89–90, 91, 92–93, 94, 95, 97–98, 99, 106–7, 109, 110, 115, 116, 117, 127, 129, 131, 151–52, 157, 158, 169–70, 184, 186,
190–91, 199, 200, 220, 238, 239, 245, 256, 258, 262, 264–65, 266, 268, 271, 272, 280, 338, 363
Borah, William, 122
“Bow Down to Washington,” 249, 321, 355
boxing, 113, 259–61
Braddock, James, 259, 261
Brandenburg Gate, 101, 298, 308, 316
Brooks, Winslow, 265
Brougham, Royal, 17–19, 39, 128, 154, 163, 170, 180, 184–85, 186, 187–88, 190–91, 211, 238, 255–56, 257, 258, 263, 264, 271, 272, 279, 285, 286, 338–39, 353, 359
Brundage, Avery, 225–26, 304–5, 307, 308
Burke, Henry Penn, 283, 284–85, 286
Burnley, Dick, 118, 156, 163
California, University of, at Berkeley, 13, 18–19, 22–23, 47, 83–100, 105–6, 107, 112, 113, 116, 118–19, 136, 140–41, 150, 156, 162–71, 174, 176–77, 182, 183, 188–91, 196–97, 212, 232, 240–49, 254–55, 257, 258, 263, 264, 265, 266–73, 275–76, 277, 278, 279, 280, 282, 312, 331, 358, 369
California Clipper, 243, 247, 248–49, 271
Calimar, Evanda May, 257, 258, 271
Calimar, Oliver, 257
Callow, Russell “Rusty,” 38, 86, 112, 137
Cambridge University, 23, 41–42, 313, 322–23, 364
Canada, 31, 34, 44–47, 61, 79, 137, 138, 310, 325, 334
canoes, 115, 137, 159–60, 218, 325
Carnegie, Andrew, 276
Cascade, 94
cedar shells, 15, 83, 87, 112, 127, 135, 137–40, 214, 215, 247, 364
Certain Death, 110
Champlain, 115
Christianity, 26, 27, 176
Christian Science Monitor, 272
City of Seattle, 109, 115, 117, 152, 165, 187
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 13, 68
Clark, Grover, 98–99, 270
Class Day Races, 220
Colbert, Fred, 265
Columbia University, 13, 111, 116, 186, 188, 261, 264, 268, 269, 270, 287, 288
concentration camps, 145, 332–34
Conibear, Hiram, 18, 45–47, 111, 137, 286, 323, 363
Conibear Shellhouse, 365, 367, 368–70
Cornell University, 13, 22, 23, 47, 111, 116, 187, 188, 189, 257, 258, 263, 265, 267, 269
Coughlin, Paul, 285
Coy, Don, 312, 334
Cunningham, Glenn, 291, 303
Dachau concentration camp, 76
Davidson, Arthur, 26
Day, Chuck, 157, 158, 189, 201–5, 207, 211, 218, 228, 237, 238, 239, 253, 277, 279, 288, 290, 305, 312, 324, 325, 328, 340, 343, 355, 358, 363, 365
Delibes, Léo, 211
Deutsches Jungvolk, 144–45
Deutsches Stadion, 19, 21
Diem, Gudrun, 317
Dillinger, John, 97
Dirks, Clarence, 180–81, 249
Dix, I. F., 285
Dobie, Gil, 173
Doggett’s Coat and Badge race, 42, 43–44
Donlon, Peter, 183
Donovan, Arthur, 260
double sculls, 293–94, 338
Duckworth, John Noel, 322–24, 330, 331, 341, 345
Dungeness River, 55, 60, 68, 125, 237
Dust Bowl, 75–76, 119–21, 174–76
East-West Shrine Game, 113
Ebright, Ky, 22, 23, 38, 84, 85–89, 93, 94–95, 105–6, 118–19, 136, 139–40, 156, 163, 164, 164, 165, 176–77, 182, 183, 188–90, 197, 212, 220, 241–43, 247, 249, 254–55, 256, 258, 260, 264, 270, 273, 275, 279, 285, 363, 364
Eckman, Ray, 284, 285
Eden, Anthony, 43
eight-oared shells, 1, 46–47, 87, 90, 97, 112, 136, 161–62, 173, 177–78, 188, 229, 251, 286, 290, 313, 327–28, 338, 358–59
Ellington, Duke, 292–93
Empire Builder, 107–8
Engineer City, 195, 203
Ernst, Bob, 367
Esquire, 22
Eton College, 18, 42–43, 44, 47, 136, 358
European Rowing Championships (1935), 209
Fédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Aviron (FISA), 322, 334, 337
Fioroni, Rico, 334, 337
football, 14, 18, 41, 46, 74, 75, 96, 113, 142, 173, 185, 233
Ford, Henry, 26, 30
Fortenberry, Joe, 291–92
four-mile courses, 115, 118, 128, 183–84, 196, 220, 254, 256–57, 258
four-oared crews, 294, 337
France, 75–76, 145, 252, 305–6, 317, 327, 330, 334
Franconian limestone, 207–8
Franklin automobile, 27, 30, 31, 37, 53, 54, 57–58, 60, 61, 63, 160, 193, 195, 210, 218
Franklin High School, 15, 200
Freud, Sigmund, 211
Frick, Wilhelm, 19
Friedlander, George, 122
Fritz and Dick (draft horses), 62–63, 237
Garzelli, Enrico, 348
German Olympic Organizing Committee, 318, 322, 334
Gettysburg, Battle of, 115
Geyer-Werke film studios, 142, 252–53
“Gimme ten big ones” command, 98–99, 105–6, 153, 167, 168, 184–85, 248, 270, 331
Glider crew, 310
Goebbels, Hildegard “Hilde,” 99–100, 103
Goebbels, Joseph, 20, 99–103, 102, 143–44, 251, 252–53, 260, 261, 297, 305, 314–16, 337–38, 346, 349, 350, 351, 359, 360, 360
Goebbels, Magda, 99–100, 101, 103, 261
Gold and Ruby mine, 31–37, 33, 53, 108, 161, 198, 219, 366
Golden Rule Dairy and Bakery, 160–61, 210
Göring, Hermann, 315, 338, 346, 349, 350, 351, 359
Grand Challenge Cup, 313
Grand Coulee Dam, 122–23, 192, 193–205, 207, 209, 211, 221, 237
Grant, Don, 112
Great Britain, 10, 18, 23, 41–44, 46, 47–48, 76, 110, 111, 176, 252, 313, 322–23, 324, 327, 329, 330–31, 332, 334, 338, 341, 343, 345, 346, 348, 360
Great Depression, 2, 7–10, 22, 49, 60, 72, 75–76, 88, 119–23, 174–76, 199, 201–2, 238, 284–85
Great Northern Railroad, 107–8
Great Plains, 57, 75–76, 120, 174–76
Greece, 100, 253, 308, 317
Green, Bob, 130, 152–53, 158, 220
Grünau, 208–9, 289, 298, 300, 309, 313, 321–41, 327, 342, 354, 355, 367–68
Gypsies, 297, 298, 332
Halstead, Charles, 27
Hartman, Charles “Chuck,” 130, 153, 158, 220, 245
Harvard University, 13, 18, 22, 23, 110–11, 138, 184, 245, 262, 294, 362
Harvard-Yale Regatta, 110–11, 262
Hatch, Merton, 238, 239, 240
Haus Mitte, 209
Haus Ost, 209
Haus West, 209, 326, 329, 336–37, 346, 349, 351, 353, 368
Hay, Angus, Jr., 2, 63
Hearst, William Randolph, Jr., 304
Helms Rowing Hall of Fame, 364, 365
Henley Royal Regatta, 313
Hess, Rudolf, 144
Hide-Away Beer Parlor, 286
Highway 101, 125, 224
Himmler, Heinrich, 144
Hindenburg, 293, 314, 318
Hirschhahn, Eva, 333
Hirschhahn, Hedwig, 333
Hirschhahn, Richard, 333, 367
Hirschhahn, Ruth, 333
Hitler, Adolf, 1, 2, 10, 19–21, 76, 100, 101, 102, 103, 142–43, 144–45, 176, 207, 225, 226, 251–52, 255, 261, 295, 300, 313–19, 337, 338, 346, 347, 349, 350, 351, 359–61, 360, 368
Hitler Youth (Hitler-Jugend), 144–45, 208, 316
Honolulu Pete, 54
Hoover, Herbert, 9
Hooverville, 7–9, 8, 73, 131, 141, 199
Huckleberry Island, 290, 311
Hudson River, 109–10, 111, 112, 113, 114–15, 117, 181, 183, 186, 254, 257, 264, 272, 273,
275, 290–91, 293, 302
Huldigungsmarsch (Wagner), 316
Hume, Don, 157, 166, 186, 220, 228, 238, 239, 240, 247, 248, 251, 253, 254, 256–57, 269, 270, 277, 281, 282, 283, 286, 300, 302, 303, 306, 310–11, 312, 322, 324, 326, 328, 330–31, 332, 334, 337, 338, 339, 340, 343, 344, 345, 347, 348, 349, 350, 353, 354, 357, 363, 366
Hunt, Eleanor, 363
Hunt, George “Shorty,” 78, 129, 130, 131, 153, 154–55, 168, 181, 218, 220, 221, 228, 229, 238, 253, 258, 263, 266, 271, 282, 285, 288, 307, 308, 312, 314, 326, 350, 353, 357–58, 359, 363, 366
Husky Clipper, 240–41, 246, 247, 248–49, 266, 267–68, 270, 271, 276, 278, 281, 290, 303, 307, 310, 330, 331, 337, 338, 340, 341, 343, 346, 347, 348, 353–54, 355, 365–66, 368–70
Hyde Park, N.Y., 261–63, 276, 279
Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA), 22, 23, 110–12, 363
International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), 121
International Olympic Committee (IOC), 252–53, 314, 316, 321–22
Italy, 23, 312, 334, 338, 343, 345, 345, 346, 348, 349, 350–51, 354, 368
Jackson, Horatio Nelson, 26
Japan, 312–13, 323, 327, 330, 334
Jews, 19, 20, 76, 100–101, 144, 208, 224–26, 252, 289–90, 297, 308–9, 332–34, 359, 367
Joachim, Alfred, 318
Keitel, Wilhelm, 360
Kelley, Robert, 18, 183–84, 272
Kilgore, Carl, 285
knockers, hull, 231, 340, 349
KOMO radio station, 211, 246, 339, 349
Köpenick, 308–10, 311–19, 324–25, 328, 332–34, 335, 355, 367
Kreisler, Fritz, 210–11
Kristallnacht, 333
Krogmann, Carl Vincent, 307
Krulak, Vic, 277
Lake Carnegie, 276, 279, 280, 281
Lake Missoula, 193–94
Lake Union, 71, 78, 84, 140, 240
Lake Washington, xii, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18, 46, 49, 71, 78, 83, 84, 91, 92, 94, 95–100, 109, 116, 118, 129, 141, 142, 158, 159–60, 198, 199–200, 223, 224, 234, 235, 236, 240–49, 253, 254, 282, 339, 354, 357, 365–66, 369
Langer See, 208, 231, 300, 309, 310–11, 321, 322, 324, 326, 328, 329, 332, 334, 337, 340, 344, 346, 355, 367, 368