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12.06.2008

jack yoshihara's rose bowl redemption


This Los Angeles Times article is a few weeks old, but it's a pretty cool story. Jack Yoshihara was playing as a sophomore on Oregon State's football in 1941, when the team played second-ranked Duke in their first trip to the Rose Bowl. Jack, however, wasn't able to play in the game. He was sent to the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho: War and the Roses for Oregon State.

In June, Yoshihara was among the Oregon State students of Japanese ancestry, interned during World War II, who were given honorary degrees by the university. After receiving his diploma, Yoshihara was asked to hold up his 1942 Rose Bowl ring, given to him 1985, bringing cheers from the crowd at Reser Stadium. He never got to go to the Rose Bowl, but he's still a champ.