2nd Lt. Gus Kitchens Jr.
2nd Lt. Gus Kitchens Jr. ( 1937 Purcell High School Graduate )
Letterman on Purcell High School Football Teams ( 1933 - 1936 )
Letterman on Purcell High School Basketball Teams ( 1933 - 1937 )
Letterman on Purcell High School Track Teams ( 1934 - 1937 )
Oklahoma All-State Track ( 1936 & 1937 )
Oklahoma All-State Football End ( 1936 )
Named to the PHS 1930's All-Decade Football Team by Head Football Coach Jim Conger
Member of the University of Oklahoma Football Team ( 1937 - 1940 )
Member of the University of Oklahoma Track Team ( 1938 - 1940 )
End on the 1938 OU Big Six Conference Champions and Orange Bowl team, which is recognized as OU's first football bowl team ever.
A member of the OU Sprint Medley Relay Team that set a World Record at the time
Named Pre-Season All-American End ( 1940 )
Named Team Captain University of Oklahoma Football Team ( 1940 )
Served in the U.S. Army Air Corps ( 1940 - 1942 )
Killed in Action on April 11, 1942 while serving in the Pacific Theatre during WWII
While leading a bombing attack, his A-24 dive bomber was shot down by Japanese aircraft north of Lae, New Guinea, killing Kitchens and his gunner, Sgt. George Kehoe of Texas
Kitchens was decorated in valor after his death, as he was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart
Kitchens Hall on the University of Oklahoma campus was named in his honor
Buried with full military honors in the Hillside Cemetery in Purcell
