From Gridiron Glory to Jungle Survival: The Story of Tom Harmon

In the suffocating humidity of a South American jungle, a hero America thought was invincible was fighting for his life.

He was the sole survivor of a fiery plane crash.

Completely alone, all alone.

The world of razor sharp grasses and dark menacing swamps.

This is the story of Tom Harmon, Heisman Trophy winner.

Those same legs were were carrying him through a wilderness that didn't really care about touchdowns or trophies.

He was just a man trying to survive.

And here's the crazy part.

This was only the first time that he would fall from the sky in a fiery crash, vanish from the world.

And his story was just one of those impossible odds.

Not just once, but twice.

And a jaw dropping tale of fire and brimstone, plane crashes and an absolute refusal to die in a jungle on two different continents.

The story of Tom Harmon, Heisman winner, war hero.

This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of American football events throughout history.

Your host, Darren Hayes is podcasting from America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron one day at a time.

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Now on to our episode.

He was, he wasn't just a player, he was a phenomenon.

He was the single wing tail back for the University of Michigan Wolverines.

His team lost by one point to the eventual national champions, Minnesota and they took second place to him.

But they lost by one point and Minnesota ended up winning the national championship that year.

His number 98 became a symbol of unstoppable power and grace and a solid 195lbs.

Harmon was a force of nature, a power runner known for his devastating cutbacks that left defenders grasping at air.

Now, his jersey often ripped into shreds by opponents who couldn't do much else to to stop him.

But he was a more than that.

He was a man who was on a mission.

In his three years with the Wolverines, he didn't just break records, he rewrote the book.

He scored 33 touchdowns those two seasons total, threw for 16 more.

It was an all around tear on the field.

The Maxwell Award, Heisman Trophy, Associated Press Athlete of the Year.

Definitely a formidable man on the football field.

But the defining moment of his college career came in his final game against arch rival Ohio State.

And that performance, it sounds like something out of a movie.

Harmon led Michigan to a 40 to nothing blowout.

He scored on three rushing touchdowns, threw for two more, kicked four extra points, intercepted three passes on defense, and punted three times for a jaw dropping 50 yard average.

And when a game was over, the Ohio State crowd, the sworn enemy, rose to its feet and gave him a standing ovation.

Imagine that.

The big game saluting a Michigan player never probably happened again.

Probably the only time it will ever happen.

It was a show of respect so rare it has never been repeated for the Wolverine player in that stadium.

His number 98 jersey was was retired after that season, cementing the legendary status of the man known as Tom Harmon.

The world was his.

But that world was about to change forever.

Just as Harmon star was burning its brightest, the nation plunged into a second World war.

Like so many of his generation, Tom Harmon answered the call and he put on his pro career on hold and enlisted in the US Army Air Force, training his football helmet for a pilot's cap.

He was a man that seemed so invincible.

And he was heading into a war where no one was invincible.

Now his first brush with death didn't come in a dogfight, but against the raw and different power of nature.

Flying through a brutal thunderstorm over the dense jungle, disaster struck.

The storm was so violent that it tore the right wing clean off the plane, sending it into a deadly spin.

Now Harmon screamed for his six man crew to bail out.

He saw three men jump, but with the plane plummeting, he knew he had seconds to save himself.

He fumbled and taped for the rip cord and finally leaped and then pulled it again and the chute opened and he blacked out.

And then he came to, he was dangling from a tree just 20 yards from the burning records of his bomber.

He ended up being the only survivor in that wreck, now the F. For four agonizing days, he trudged through the jungle, a football hero who was so desperate it was now a castaway.

He battled insects, dodged crocodiles, and pushed through miles of murky swamps, surviving on rations and swamp water.

Finally, exhausted and believing it was the end, he collapsed.

And that's when he was found by local natives who guided him by dugout canoe to a small settlement.

And from there he made his way to an American army base where he finally called his parents.

And his words were simple.

I'm not hurt.

He had stared death in the face and won.

But his war was just getting started.

Now, after surviving this harrowing escape in April 43 in South America, Harmon was assigned to the 449th Fighter Squadron in China, where he learned to fly the P38 Lightning, a fast twin tailed fighter.

He had his famous number 98 painted on the right side.

While escorting bombers over the Yancy river, his squadron was ambushed by Japanese Zero fighters.

Herman managed to shoot down two enemy planes, but in the chaos, his own P38 was hit and the cockpit erupted in flames.

His legs that had made him a legend were literally on fire and he frantically beat the flames with his arms and face, popped up the canopy and was violently sucked out of the cockpit just as the plane began to break apart.

Now, as he floated down, enemies fighters were shooting at him and flying, firing their guns as he held hung helpless to the parachute cords.

And he plunged into a lake and used the parachute soak to hide beneath the water until they were gone.

And he was burned in an agony and deep behind enemy lines.

Remember, China was occupied by the Japanese at this time.

This time he wasn't just lost, he was also missing in hostile territory.

For 32 days, Americans Golden Boy was gone.

Newspapers back home announced that he was missing in action, and the nation that idolized him feared the worst.

But on the ground, another miracle was happening.

Harmon was rescued by Chinese guerrilla fighters.

His journey back was an ordeal.

His burns became infected and he was so weak he had to be carried on a stretcher over mountain trails for the rest of his life.

He rarely spoke about those 32 days, saying only that he went through the most physically painful experience of his life.

End quote.

He was awarded with a Silver Star and a Purple Heart.

These Chinese gorillas were the real heroes in this as they carried a man that could barely speak, barely eat, was drinking tea and a little bit of rice to survive.

And his Chinese rescuers carried him hundreds of miles to get him through Japanese lines to safety and finally to an American base.

That helped him out and got him the correct medical attention that he needed in this grueling, really life saving feat that these Chinese guerrillas did.

Now, Tom Harmon's story is an unbelievable testament to the power of the human spirit.

There's so many of these incredible stories from that generation just waiting to be told.

And if you found this story as inspiring as we did, do us a favor and hit that like button and subscribe button for more and let us know about it in the comments.

Who's another hero in a story that the world needs to hear about from the football world that went into the World war and, you know, saved us and protected our freedom.

When Tom Harmon returned from the war, he was a different man.

The physical toll of his crashes and injuries were immense.

But his legendary speed was gone and he retired from football and started a career he'd always wanted in sports broadcasting as for decades his voice became famous as his legs had once been.

But perhaps the most beautiful symbol of his survival came on his wedding day.

He married actress Elise Knox and gave that very silk parachute that saved his life over in China to his mother in law, carefully took the silk apart, working around the tears and bullet holes, and fashioned it into his bride's wedding dress.

That same fabric that carried him from the burning plane became a symbol of a new beginning.

And from that marriage, he ended up having the actor Mark Harmon, who was a great football player himself.

And now you see him on television, the NCIS television shows.

Mark Harmon is Tom Harmon's son.

He was a father to three children, all including Mark Harmon.

And he was a broadcaster, war hero, and one of the greatest college football players to ever live.

He was a man who fell from the sky twice and simply refused to be broken.

A hero who taught us that from real strength isn't about being invincible, it's about getting back up, no matter how far you've fallen.

Hope you enjoyed this football history we talked about today.

Hope you enjoy, you know, talking about a real hero and somebody that had the great will to live and love to talk to you more about this and more football history even each and every day on pigskindispatch.com we have many podcasts coming out during the week, many videos coming out.

You can check those all out too.

Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel and where Pigskin Dispatch is found on your favorite podcast provider or@pigskindispatch.com till next time everybody have a great gridiron day.

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