Pottsville Maroons player was one of first casualties in WWII
Eddie Doyle could have rested on his laurels as being a member of the NFL Champion Pottsville Maroons in the team's championship season of 1925, where he played end in an exhibition game against the legendary Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.
But his lasting legacy would come 17 years later when, as commander of the Army's 168th Infantry Regiment, he led a detachment into combat against German forces in Algeria, North Africa.
According to the War Department, Lt. Col. Doyle fell victim to a sniper's bullet near Algiers, the country's capital, on Nov. 8, 1942.
Doyle was killed in the Allied troop landings of the North African Campaign.
He is reported to have been one of the first American casualties in North Africa during World War II. His name is included in a wartime heroes display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
His death was reported in the Pottsville Republican on Dec. 12, 1942.
He left behind a wife, the former Emily Belles of Pottsville, and two children in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
On the day after Doyle's death, the Pottsville Republican ran a front page story reporting the American success in battle.
'United States forces, striking with overwhelming might and exquisite precision, closed in on key defenses of French North Africa, inflicting serious losses on the Vichy navy at Casablanca and capturing Algiers,' said the story, datelined London.
Vichy was the term used for the French government set up after Germany's invasion in 1940. Algeria was a French colony at the time.
J. Robert 'Jay' Zane, president of the Schuylkill County Historical Society, published a story about Doyle in a recent edition of the society's newsletter.
'During the 100th anniversary of the Pottsville Maroons,' Zane wrote, 'we should not overlook Eddie Doyle's sacrifice on Memorial Day.'
Born in Syracuse, N.Y. in 1898, Doyle was a scholar-athlete and captain of his high school football team, Zane reported.
He enlisted in World War I as a private in the U.S. Cavalry, and attended West Point Military Academy after he was discharged.
He suffered a concussion in a football game between Army and Yale University, and left West Point afterward. He signed on with the NFL's Frankford Yellow Jackets, but was dropped after a few games.
The Maroons' owner, Dr. John Striegel, brought Doyle to Pottsville in 1925.
The Maroons clinched the NFL Championship by beating the Chicago Cardinals 21-7 on Dec. 6, 1925 in Chicago. The title was rescinded after the Maroons played an unsanctioned post-season game with the Notre Dame All Stars in Shibe Park, Philadelphia.
Wearing jersey No. 1, Doyle scored three touchdowns during a two-year stint with the Maroons. He accepted a commission in the Army, leaving for duty the day after he married Emily Belles in Trinity Episcopal Church on Oct. 2, 1926.
He went on to coach football at West Point and the Army's 1st Cavalry football teaml
About 11 months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Doyle was killed in North Africa.
It was written, Zane found, that Gen. George 'Old Blood and Guts' Patton cried after hearing of Doyle's death.
The Schuylkill County Historical Society has organized the 100th anniversary tribute to the Maroons.
The society recently unveiled a 'The Pottsville Maroons: 1925 World Champions Exhibit' in its headquarters at 305 N. Centre St., Pottsville. Diana Prosymchak, executive director, will present 'The Pottsville Maroons Story' at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, in the society.
The society is sponsoring a Pottsville Maroons 100th Anniversary banquet at 5 p.m. Aug. 16 at Mountain Valley Golf Course. Tickets are available by calling the society at 570-622-7540.
The 1925 Pottsville Maroons football team is shown in a program. FILE PHOTO
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