‘The Mosquito Bowl’ movie tells a tragic WWII story. For this 102-year-old veteran, it was personal

John McConnell was running laps on the track at Thornton Township High School outside Chicago in 1942 when an alumnus and football star he knew from the neighborhood pulled up and started running alongside. Bob Baumann was a star tackle on spring break from the University of Wisconsin and was set to play for the Chicago Bears. McConnell, a senior on track, was flattered to have such company. “He came over and said, ‘Let’s run a mile,’” recalled McConnell, who was the fastest miler at the school. “Here was this guy, 60 pounds heavier, running with this punk kid. It was the toughest mile I ran all season.” McConnell, now 102 and living in Long Beach, was thrilled then to share a few laps with such an athlete clearly on his way to a pro football career and more. It was the last time McConnell would see him. With World War II raging, Baumann enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942 while still a student and was killed in Okinawa.

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