Due to their playing in Honolulu on the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor, they became known as the "Pearl Harbor" team. Four members of the team (Keene, Weisgerber, Ted Ogdahl, and Marvin Goodman) were inducted individually into the Willamette University Athletic Hall of Fame. The team as a whole was inducted in 1997.[2][4]
Willamette players received 11 of 13 first-team spots on the 1941 All-Northwest Conference football team. Four players were unanimous picks: end Bill Reder; tackle Martin Barstad; guard Tony Fraiola; and back Teddy Ogdahl.[5]
On the afternoon of December 6, 1941, in the Shrine Football Classic, Willamette lost to Hawaii at Honolulu Stadium.[15] The game drew a crowd of 25,000 persons, the largest paid attendance in Hawaii history to that point.[16] The attendees included Territorial Governor Joseph Poindexter, Honolulu Mayor Lester Petrie, and Lt. Gen. Walter Short, the U.S. commander responsible for the defense of U.S. military installations in Hawaii;[16] the game was preceded by a "spectacle" of marching bands, including performances by the U.S. Marine band and bands from several Hawaiian high schools and colleges.[17]
Early the following morning, the team gathered for a planned sightseeing tour and picnic. The attack on Pearl Harbor interrupted the picnic plan and began the Pacific War. Willamette was also scheduled to play San Jose State on December 16 in Honolulu, but that game was cancelled.[18] In the wake of the attack, it was unclear if a full-scale invasion had begun. Martial law was declared in Honolulu, and the visiting Willamette football players were assigned to support the emergency. They were given World War I rifles, bayonets and helmets, and served for the next 10 days as guards at the Punahou School which was converted into an ammunition depot.[19][20][21]
The team returned home on the SS President Coolidge, attending to wounded sailors, finally arriving in San Francisco on Christmas Day.[19][22][23]
In 2019, the experiences of the Willamette and San Jose State football teams were documented in the book, "Scrimmage for War: A Story of Pearl Harbor, Football, and World War II".[24]
Honors
The conference coaches selected an All-Northwest Conference football team at the end of the 1941 season. Willamette players received 11 of the 13 first-team spots. Willamette's first-team honorees were:
Marshall Barbour, right end, age 20, 5'11", 190 pounds, Portland, Oregon
Martin Barstad, left tackle, age 20, 6'1", 203 pounds, Woodburn, Oregon (unanimous pick)
Anthony Jo "Tony" Fraiola, left guard, age 23, 5'9", 175 pounds, New Providence, New Jersey (unanimous pick, second consecutive year with all-conference honors)
Gordon Moore, right guard, age 22, 6'2", 195 pounds, Tigard, Oregon