Athletes - Clint Castleberry

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	Athletes - Clint Castleberry

In the small hours of the morning of 7 November 1944, before voters re-elected FDR for a fourth term; Lt. Clinton Dillard Castlebery, Jr. was the co-pilot on a B-26 ("Dream Girl" #44-67866) Marauder bomber which took off from Roberts Field (along with #44-67861) in Liberia (continuing a ferrying run up the coast toward Dakar, Senegal). Neither plane was ever heard nor seen again, despite an extensive six-day search involving American and British planes. On 23 November 1944, all crew members were officially re-classified from MIA to KNB (killed - no body).

Clint's father never gave up hope, to his dying day in 1961. He held onto the slim chance the plane found a place to land.

Prior to that, Clint Castleberry had shown extraordinary ability as a Georgia Tech "pony" back (he was ony 5-9 and weighed only 155 lbs), and before that at Atlanta's Boys High, where he averaged 171 yards/game and scored 102 points. In 1942 (a year in which freshmen were ruled eligible to play varsity ball, since rosters were so drained by the war), he showed spectacular prowess in games against Navy (a game in which Castleberry's key role in the 21-0 romp was broadcast nationwide and to the Armed Forces on radio) and Notre Dame (which GT beat for the first time in South Bend with Clint's help, after Leahy was warned by a scout that Castleberry was "the most dangerous runner in America.") before his knee was injured in a hard-fought Florida game. Despite the injury, which allowed him to play only sparingly the rest of the season and in the Cotton Bowl, he finished in the top three in Heisman trophy voting, as a Freshman (something only a few have done). Many assumed he would win it in the next year or two. Georgia Tech's coach, Bobby Dodd (who was an assistant under William Alexander, who signed Castleberry, and then head coach), said he'd probably have finished as GT's greatest back and a 3-year All-American.

But, he joined the Army Air Corps (later to be split off as the Air Force) to do his duty. His brother said the family never discussed whether he should join. "It was a given."

Many servicemen, having heard that GT-Navy game and knowing of his sacrifice, would take pride in saying "Castleberry was here."

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