Charlie Behan
{{Short description|American football player (1920–1945)}}
{{For|the baseball pitcher Charles Frederick "Petie" Behan|Petie Behan}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox CFL biography
|name=Charlie Behan
|image=
|birth_date={{birth date|1920|8|4}}
|birth_place=Crystal Lake, Illinois, United States
|death_date={{death date and age|1945|05|18|1920|08|4}}
|death_place=Okinawa, Japan{{KIA}}
|Position=End
|College=Northern Illinois
|DraftedYear=
|DraftedRound=
|DatabaseFootball=BEHANCHA01
|PFR=
|ProBowls=
|playing_years1=1942
|playing_team1=Detroit Lions
|module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes
|allegiance= United States of America
|branch=File:USMC logo.svg United States Marine Corps
|rank= File:US-O2 insignia.svg First Lieutenant
|battles=World War II
|unit = File:6th MarDiv.png Sixth Marine Division
}}}}
Charles Edward Behan (August 4, 1920{{spaced ndash}}May 18, 1945) was a professional American football end for one season for the Detroit Lions.
Football career
Behan caught 4 passes for 63 yards in 1942, his only year with the Lions.{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/blog/detroit-lions/post/_/id/8914/lions-history-by-the-numbers-10-0 |title=Lions history by the numbers: 10-0 |last=Rothstein |first=Mike |publisher=ESPN |date=July 4, 2014 |access-date=July 9, 2014}}
Behan enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces in 1942 and served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. Prior to his overseas deployment, he played for the football team at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78685084/|title=Lejeune Marines work on all kicking phases|agency=AP|newspaper=The News & Observer|via=Newspapers.com|date=September 16, 1943|access-date=June 28, 2021}} In late 1944, when Behan was fighting with the newly reformed Sixth Marine Division on the island of Guadalcanal, he played in a hard-hitting "touch" football game on Christmas Eve between teams representing the 4th and 29th Regiments. Behan was the 29th Marines' player-coach and team captain in what the roster sheets passed out that day labeled "The Football Classic." The game ended in a scoreless tie.
Death at Okinawa
Most Marine players and spectators involved in "The Football Classic" were shipped to Okinawa in April 1945. During the Okinawa campaign, Behan took part in the Battle of Sugar Loaf Hill. During the battle he was hit with shrapnel in the mouth. Insisting to stay on the front lines, Behan applied cotton to his mouth and changed it out regularly. After tossing grenades at a Japanese machine gun nest, Behan was hit by machine-gun fire and died.{{cite news|first=Terry|last=Frei|title=Frei: Salute veterans like Charlie Behan|publisher=Denver Post|url= http://www.denverpost.com/frei/ci_15196031#ixzz2PW1H1VvE|date=May 31, 2010}}
Behan was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.{{cite web |url=http://www.homeofheroes.com/members/02_NX/citations/03_wwii-nc/nc_06wwii_usmc.html |title=Full Text Citations For Award of The Navy Cross To U.S. Marines World War II |website=Home of Heroes |accessdate=July 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804021237/http://homeofheroes.com/members/02_NX/citations/03_wwii-nc/nc_06wwii_usmc.html |archive-date=August 4, 2014 |url-status=dead }}
Notes
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Biography}}
- [http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.aspx?release_id=88 Football's wartime heroes]
- {{Find a Grave|33808923}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behan, Charlie}}
Category:Sportspeople from Crystal Lake, Illinois
Category:Players of American football from McHenry County, Illinois
Category:American football wide receivers
Category:Northern Illinois Huskies football players
Category:Detroit Lions players
Category:United States Marine Corps officers
Category:United States Marine Corps personnel killed in World War II
Category:Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)