Clifton Cushman

Olympic medal record
Men’s athletics
	1960 Rome	400 metre hurdles

Clifton Cushman (Clifton Emmett "Cliff" Cushman; 2 June 1938 – 25 September 1966) was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metre hurdles.

He competed for the United States in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy in the 400 metre hurdles where he won the silver medal.

High school

Cliff Cushman was a graduate of Grand Forks Central High School in Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1956. Cushman was an outstanding athlete while running track for the Redskins, breaking and setting many records. In 1990 Cushman was inducted into the Grand Forks Central Athletic Hall of Fame.^[1] Randy Heuther of Lisbon High School, ND broke Cushman's record in the hurdles, but then was stripped of the title after a wind-aided controversy.

College

After high school Cliff attended the University of Kansas where he again broke and set many track records. In 1959 Cliff took second place in the 400-meter hurdles providing Kansas with their back bone to reach their first NCAA Championship. In the next year he was named captain of the Jayhawks, in this same season he also earned most outstanding performer honors at the Kansas Relays, as well as winning the national title in the 400 meter hurdles. Again helping to provide the Jayhawks with that back bone needed to defend the NCAA Championship.

His biggest achievement during his college career was during the 1960 season where Cliff Cushman became an Olympian, competing in the 1960 games in Rome. Cushman finished second overall with a time of 49.6 seconds in the 400 meter hurdles.

Race to the Gold Medal

In 1964 Cliff Cushman hoped to compete again in the Olympics. But his hopes of winning a medal were lost when he stumbled over a hurdle at the final U.S. Olympic trial meet in Los Angeles.

Just hours after the meet, Cushman wrote a letter to the youth of his hometown of Grand Forks asking them to not feel sorry for him but instead to set goals for themselves.^[2]

U.S. Air Force

After Cushman's successful career at the University of Kansas, he joined the United States Air Force. His last posting before being sent to Vietnam was at Payne Field just south of Everett, Washington.

Cushman's Death

On September 25, 1966 Captain Clifton E. Cushman was the pilot of the #2 F-105D in a flight of three that was conducting an afternoon combat mission to bomb a railroad bridge located on the northeast railroad line approximately one mile north-northeast of Kep MiG base and 29 miles northeast of Bac Giang, Lang Son Province, North Vietnam. Capt. Cushman's call sign was "Devil 2." The flight arrived in the target area on schedule and immediately checked in with the airborne battlefield command and control center (ABCCC). Devil flight was directed to begin their bomb runs on the bridge.

At 1530 hours, Devil Lead made his pass on the target followed in order by the rest of his flight. After pulling off the target, Capt. Cushman radioed that he had been hit by anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire and he had a fire warning light. Devil 3 asked if he could steer, Cliff Cushman replied he had "lost his stability, augmentation and aircraft power."

Devil Lead observed 37 mm AAA fire bursting to the left and rear of Devil 2 (Cushman), and told Capt. Cushman to break right. Lead then saw his afterburner light and simultaneous torch of flames coming from the right aft section of Devil 2 (Cushman)'s aircraft. Devil Lead then observed Cushman's aircraft break into several burning parts. He also saw Cliff Cushman's ejection seat arcing up and to the front of the falling wreckage. They could not find the body of Cliff Cushman anywhere. Because of the rough landscape it was nearly impossible for anyone to gain radio control. Cliff Cushman was immediately listed Missing in Action.^[3]

On November 6, 1975, Cliff Cushman was officially declared dead.

Surviving family members were spouse Carolyn Cushman and son Colin Cushman.

Always Remembered

Grand Forks Central High School and Red River High School named the football stadium they share after him, Cushman Field. Every fall, the football game between the two schools is called the Cushman Classic. His picture is displayed in GFC's gymnasium, and his name is mentioned in almost every Hall of Fame cabinet.

His wife said after being informed of her husband's status: "Somewhere in Vietnam he's running the biggest race of his life. It's like watching a race in which Cliff is running - only you can't see the finish tape. He's in excellent physical condition. Cliff also has a very deep faith in God. What better combination could there be?"

References

↑ "Grand Forks Central Athletic Hall of Fame 1990 Inductees". Grand Forks Central High School. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
↑ Haga, Chuck. "Grand Forks’ Cliff Cushman speaks to youth once more". INFORUM. Forum News Service. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
↑ "CUSHMAN, CLIFTON EMMET "CLIFF"". Task Force Omega. Retrieved 30 June 2013.

Mayer, Bill (September 21, 2006). "Game-day flyover would be fitting tribute to Cushman". Lawrence Journal-World (Lawrence Journal-World). Retrieved 2008-04-23.
Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office -- Additional case details on CUSHMAN, CLIFTON EMMET from the US Government database on Personnel Missing in Southeast Asia -- Vietnam War
Jamestown – North Dakota Sports Hall of Fame – Clifton Cushman
Grand Forks Central High School Football – Cliff Cushman

US National Championship winners in men's 400 m/440 yd hurdles

1914–1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1914–15: Bill Meanix 1916: Walter Hummel 1917: Floyd Smart 1918: Donald Hause 1919: Floyd Smart 1920: Frank Loomis 1921: August Desch 1922: Joseph Hall 1923: Ivan Riley 1924–26: Morgan Taylor 1927: Johnny Gibson 1928: Morgan Taylor 1929: Gordon Allott 1930: Dick Pomeroy 1931: Victor Burke 1932: Joe Healey 1933–34: Glenn Hardin 1935: Tom Moore 1936: Glenn Hardin 1937–38: Jack Patterson 1939: Roy Cochran 1940: Carl McBain 1941: Arky Erwin 1942: Walter Smith 1943–46: Arky Erwin 1947: Walter Smith 1948: Roy Cochran 1949–52: Charles Moore 1953–55: Josh Culbreath 1956–58: Glenn Davis 1959: Dick Howard 1960: Glenn Davis 1961: Cliff Cushman 1962: Willie Atterberry 1963: Rex Cawley 1964: Billy Hardin 1965: Rex Cawley 1966: Jim Miller 1967–68: Ron Whitney 1969–71: Ralph Mann 1972: Dick Bruggeman 1973–74: Jim Bolding 1975: Ralph Mann 1976: Tom Andrews 1977: Edwin Moses 1978: James Walker 1979: Edwin Moses

1980–1992 The Athletics Congress	1980: David Lee 1981: Edwin Moses 1982: David Patrick 1983: Edwin Moses 1984: David Patrick 1985: Andre Phillips 1986: Danny Harris 1987: Edwin Moses 1988: Kevin Henderson 1989–90: David Patrick 1991: Danny Harris 1992: Kevin Young

1993–present USA Track & Field	1993: Kevin Young 1994–95: Derrick Adkins 1996–98: Bryan Bronson 1999–2001: Angelo Taylor 2002: James Carter 2003: Eric Thomas 2004: James Carter 2005–06: Kerron Clement 2007: James Carter 2008–10: Bershawn Jackson 2011: Jeshua Anderson 2012–13: Michael Tinsley 2014: Johnny Dutch 2015: Bershawn Jackson

Notes	440 yd hurdles 1914–27, 1929–31, 1953–55, 1957–58, 1961–63, 1965–67, 1969–71 and 1973; 400 m hurdles otherwise. The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.