UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State All-Sports Museum has announced the opening of a new exhibit, titled "I Am a Penn Stater: Nittany Lions in World War II." The exhibit will be located in the museum’s second-floor, changing exhibition gallery and will run from June 10, 2022, through June 1, 2025.
Timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the conflict, "I Am a Penn Stater" chronicles the contributions of Nittany Lion varsity lettermen and Women’s Recreation Association athletes during the conflict and follows their service from training in the United States, to fighting on battlefields around the globe, to the postwar occupations. Utilizing a variety of photography, letters, diaries and artifacts, the exhibit offers visitors a firsthand understanding of the service provided by more than 1,200 former Nittany Lions who entered the military and American Red Cross.
The title is taken from a letter written by Sergeant Max S. Peters, a 1941 graduate who lettered in track and skiing, in which he detailed his reasons for fighting. After listing a variety of democratic ideals, he concluded by stating that it was simpler for him to tell himself “I Am a Penn Stater” as the term encapsulated everything he believed.
The exhibit will introduce visitors to a multitude of extraordinary stories including those of State College native Emma Jane Foster, a civilian nurse with the Flying Tigers in China, and wrestler Frank A. Gleason, who served with the Office of Strategic Services and was later portrayed by Pennsylvania-born actor and WWII veteran Jimmy Stewart in a cinematic adaption of his adventures. Others include basketball standout Jack Reichenbach who flew bombers for the US Fifteenth Air Force over Europe and wrestler Clair L. Hess who jumped with the 101st Airborne Division on D-Day and endured the frigid siege of Bastogne.
In telling the remarkable stories of those Nittany Lions who fought overseas, "I Am a Penn Stater" recognizes the supreme sacrifice made by 27 former lettermen during World War II. These include Navy Cross recipient W. Garfield Thomas, who was killed while commanding a turret aboard the USS Boise, and soccer star Donald Megrail, who won a Silver Star in North Africa before his death. Also among the Nittany Lions lost during the war was boxer and Tuskegee Airman James W. Wright, who was killed in 1944 when the transport aboard which he was flying crashed off the South Carolina coast.
Opened in 2002, the Penn State All-Sports Museum is located at the southwest corner of Beaver Stadium and honors the achievements of the men and women who have built the proud tradition of Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics. The museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Admission is by suggested donation of $5 for adults and $3 for children, seniors and students.