DePaul University

Nov. 11, 2010

On this Veteran's Day, the DePaul D-Club would like to take a moment to salute the men and women that have sacrificed to preserve our freedoms. Throughout DePaul's history, students have served our country and some have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. In recognition of Veteran's Day, we are reprinting the stories of two DePaul student-athletes that served in World War II. There stories are just two of the stories of Blue Demons in service of their country. 

Jack Dean - Men's Basketball - entire story - Click HERE

Jack Dean came to DePaul to play basketball at age 17 in 1943-44 because he wasn't old enough to enlist in the military. Instead of enlisting, he signed up for duty with the Blue Demons and Ray Meyer. The St. Ignatius prep came in well-prepared and made an immediate impact. He would finish the 1943-44 season as DePaul's third-leading scorer behind All-Americans Mikan and Dick Triptow.

"He was a good player and a great-looking guy," said teammate Dick Triptow. "He really added a lot to our team." "I owe playing at DePaul to Jack," said Blue Demon Hall of Famer Eugene Stump. "I was sitting on the South Side waiting to get old enough to enlist when Jack told me I should go up with him for some basketball at DePaul one afternoon. We went, and a couple of weeks later, Coach Ray Meyer offered us both scholarships to play for the Blue Demons. For me, that really changed everything."

Dean was the leading scorer in DePaul's semifinal victory over Oklahoma A&M in Madison Square Garden. With Mikan on the bench in foul trouble, the freshman stood tall and knocked down several shots in the Blue Demons' come-from-behind victory. The following game, the referees got the best of DePaul in the Garden. By most newspaper accounts, St. John's and storied coach Joe Lapchick benefited some home cooking. Both Mikan and Dean fouled out early in DePaul's 47-39 loss to the St. John's Indians (as they were known back then). Teammate Bill McNabola mentioned in some notes a copy of the March 27, 1944 New York Times article: "Referees were brutal on Mikan and Dean. They were ticky-tack fouls."

The calls were apparently so bad that Meyer wanted to pull the team from the floor---but was advised by priests that would be wrong. DePaul finished as the NIT runner-up. As the season closed, so did Dean's time as a Blue Demon.

Now that he was 18, he enlisted in the Navy. On the advice of Meyer, and after some phone calls by the legendary coach, Dean was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago. Instead of being shipped out, the Blue Demon forward was assigned to work at the Naval Station and play for the base's basketball team. Great Lakes had a fine athletics program for basketball and baseball.

The 1942 baseball team was managed by Mickey Cochrane and featured Major Leaguers like Johnny Mize, Bob Feller and Billy Herman. The talent on the basketball and football teams was comparable. For more information, check out this link regarding Roger Gogan's book. Gogan's book documents that Dean had some ultimately irreparable issues with the coach and was set to be shipped out to San Diego, and then overseas. Apparently Dean's reputation as a player preceded him, and before he was shipped abroad, he was assigned to play for the Naval Training Station in San Diego. Unfortunately, Dean got crossed up with the coach and ultimately was sent overseas.

Dean served aboard the U.S.S. Indianapolis as an S2. In July of 1945 the Indianapolis received orders to make a special delivery to Tinian Island. The Indianapolis was to transport a top-secret cargo, the uranium for the atomic bomb "Little Boy" which subsequently would be dropped on Hiroshima. Travelling alone, the Indianapolis would reach Tinian on July 26 and then onto Guam before continuing to Okinawa, Japan to rejoin other ships. On July 30, the Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese submarine.

Marshall Berkson - Men's Basketball - entire story - Click HERE

DePaul Athletics has had a number of men and women that have made sacrifices to ensure our freedoms. One of those heroes is Marshall Berkson of Miami Beach, Fla.

Berkson was the captain of Hyde Park High School's basketball team, attracting the interest of DePaul coach Ray Meyer. Berkson, in turn, was drawn to the new young head coach.

"I really wanted to play for Coach Meyer," said Berkson, who signed on with the Blue Demons. "There wasn't that big of an age difference between him and us players."

Berkson would quickly make friends with a teammate who would become one of the biggest names in Blue Demon athletics.

Discovering that Berkson had class downtown with George Mikan, Meyer asked Berkson to help with the big man's development.

"Ray asked me if I could play ping-pong," Berkson said. "After I said yes, he said I needed to work with George on his awkwardness by playing ping-pong between classes. So George and I played ping-pong between classes, and I guess the rest is history."

Asked if he felt that their ping-pong rivalry was the reason for Mikan's success, Berkson just laughed, adding that it was Mikan's competitive nature that made him special.

"Oh he was a fierce competitor," Berkson added. "He would fight you for marbles."

Berkson was poised to impact the Blue Demons on the court as well. A photo in the May 27, 1943 DePaulian shows Berkson working out with the starting five in an article titled "Meyer Works New Demons Every Friday."

Unfortunately, his time as a Blue Demon was cut short. In June of 1943, Berkson was inducted into the Army.

Initially, he was placed into the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) and was sent to enroll at North Central College in Naperville, where he continued playing basketball.

With the pressure to amass troops, the ASTP program was discontinued and its participants assigned to the infantry. Berkson joined one of the most celebrated divisions of World War II---the 8th Armored Division of the Third Army headed by General George S. Patton.

As a part of the Eighth Armored Division, 58th Armored Infantry Battalion, Company C, Berkson was among the first troops to enter Holland and was involved in battles in Luxembourg, France, Germany and Czechoslovakia.

The Chicago native fought in the historic Battle of the Bulge and was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge. After volunteering to go behind enemy lines, he was awarded the Bronze Star for valor.

Berkson said his crowning military achievement was his unit's liberation of Helberstadt Zweiberger, a satellite of the Buchenwald concentration camp.

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The D-Club is interested in hearing more stories about men and women that have served their country. If you have additional stories of Blue Demons in service, please contact Thad Dohrn at tdohrn@depaul.edu