Kenny Sailors entered on active duty with the US Marines as a 2nd Lieutenant in April 1943 just a couple of weeks after the Wyoming Cowboys won the national college basketball championship.  He served on active duty until the end of 1945 and eventually was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain.

Kenny’s principal service was aboard the ship USS Gen. R.E. Callan as the officer-in-charge of a Marine security detail of about 40 men.  The USS Callan was a troop transport which typically carried around 4,000 men into and from battle in the western and south Pacific.  The USS Callan also sailed in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans while Kenny was on board.

For the first few months of Kenny’s service he was stationed at the Marine Corps Base in San Diego.  During this time he was one of the stars of the Base’s undefeated (35 wins) basketball team which conquered, among others, the University of Southern California and AAU power Dow Chemical.  Kenny shared the spotlight on this team with eventual NBA star and Hall of Fame member Joe Fulks.  In the spring of 1944 the team was broken up and its members shipped out and into the War.

In this category we attempt to display some of the highlights of Kenny Sailors’ time in service to his country as a US Marine.  New material will be added as we discover it.