Throughout WWI and WWII, athletic opportunities for recruits included swimming, basketball, hockey, water polo, boxing, wrestling and track and field. But, it was in football that Great Lakes achieved national prominence. Among the thousands of recruits streaming through the gates were players from Notre Dame, Northwestern, Iowa, Washington, Detroit, Ohio State and a host of others. One of the players who would achieve fame in professional football was George Halas ("Papa Bear" of the Chicago Bears). The 1918 undefeated season culminated in Pasadena, California in the [1919] Rose Bowl where Great Lakes defeated the Mare Island Marines, 17-0. During WWII, the Great Lakes Bluejackets twice defeated Notre Dame in football and the baseball team competed well against professional teams.

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Show me all markers in:  North Chicago, IL  |  Lake County  |  60088  |  Illinois  |  United States of America

World War II
Women at Great Lakes
The Post War Era
Wings over Great Lakes
Great Lakes History Trail
Fighting Tradesmen
Base Realignment and Closure
Origins of the Base / Construction
The Golden Thirteen
Black and White

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