Walter Roland"Waddy"Young Biography-1
Waddy was an End on the 1942 Western “Army All Stars” football team, consisting of both NFL professional players and former college greats. Their goal was to raise money for War Bonds. The Western All Stars played five exhibition games – against the Packers, Lions, Chicago Cardinals, Giants, and Redskins. Members of the Western and Eastern Army All Stars were awarded a Gruen 10K gold watch, each engraved with “Army All Stars 1942” and the player’s name ("W. R. Young")
Oklahoma's 1st All-American ~~ NFL Player ~~ WW2 War Hero
Walter “Waddy” Young (1916-1945) was a proud member of the “Greatest Generation” – a college All-American football player, an NFL wide receiver, and a WW2 hero who died in service to his country.
Waddy was the University of Oklahoma’s first consensus All-American football player. He led his undefeated (10-0) Sooners to its first conference championship and first bowl appearance in the 1939 Orange Bowl. After college, he played professionally as a receiver for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National Football League (1938-1940).
Waddy voluntarily gave up his NFL career to become a member of the elite flying club who piloted America’s B-24 Liberator bombers over the European Theatre, flying 9,000 hours against the German Luftwaffe. He then volunteered to go back into combat in the Pacific Theatre against Japan, where he commanded a squadron of B-29 Super Fortresses. He was killed on January 9, 1945, in a plane crash during a raid over Tokyo as his B-29 “Waddy’s Wagon” attempted to assist a comrade whose plane was on fire.
Young was inducted posthumously into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986 and named the recipient of the Robert Kalsu Freedom Award, presented by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, in 2007. The University of Oklahoma Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps chapter is named in honor of Waddy Young.
