Capt. Donald Odell on Inactive Status Due to Malaria
Capt. Donald M. Odell, son of Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Odell, 3108 Fourth avenue, has been placed in the inactive army reserves because of malaria which he contracted in New Guinea in the summer of 1943. He is home until such time as he may be called back to active service. Capt. Odell’s wife is an army nurse, stationed in New Guinea.
He was a member of the football team when he attended East high school, from which he was graduated in 1936, and was fairly active in football while he was attending Iowa University, where he was graduated in 1940. At college he was a member of the reserve officers training corps, and enlisted in the Army as a second lieutenant immediately after graduation. He has been in the infantry during his full Army career, and besides his pre-Pearl Harbor ribbon he has earned the Asiatic-Pacific theater ribbon with three major battle stars.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, February 14, 1945
Odell Brothers – Three of a Kind
Howard Odell, head coach of football at Yale University, is shown above flanked by his two brothers, Bob and Don. At the left is Bob Odell, an all-American halfback at the University of Pennsylvania in 1943, who was commissioned last week as an ensign. At the right is Don Odell, an Army captain who returned to this country only recently after more than two years of combat service in the South Pacific war theater. Last fall Coach “Howie” Odell piloted the Yale football team to its first undefeated season in two decades.
The three brothers are son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry H. Odell, 3108 Fourth avenue. All were outstanding athletes at East high school and played under the direction of Coach Les Davis. Howard, 34, played his last and best football for East in the fall of 1926, but went on in 1929 to win the state pole vault championship. Donald, 28, maintained family tradition for the Odells in 1932 by filling the right halfback spot at East in an outstanding manner. Robert, 22, flashed across the gridiron for East the last time in 1938, but went on in 1939 to win the state title in the low hurdles.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, March 21, 1945 (photo included)
