ProRodeo Sports News - May 28, 2021

TIME CAPSULE MEMORIAL DAY

BY SCOTT KANIEWSKI S ome of ProRodeo’s best put it all on the line serving in the military. And some of those cowboys are enshrined in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo. Among them are Deb Copenhaver, Myron “Doc” Etienne, Freckles Brown, Dave Stout and Fritz Truan, who died at the Battle of Iwo Jima.

A Time to Remember Hall of Famers who also served country

DEB COPENHAVER FRITZ TRUAN

DOC ETIENNE

FRECKLES BROWN DAVE STOUT

One of the greatest saddle bronc riders to come out of the Pacific Northwest, Copenhaver won world championships in 1955-56. But before his rodeo career, he enlisted with the Navy Seabees at the early age of 17. He spent two years in North Africa during World War II.

Truan was a three-time world champion. He put his rodeo career on hold to join the Marines in 1942. The Army sergeant was killed at Iwo Jima while leading an uphill charge. His story inspired the 1949 film, “The Sands of Iwo Jima,” starring John Wayne.

After high school, Myron ‘Doc’ Etienne joined the Merchant Marines, serving at sea for five years. His rodeo volunteer work of more than 40 years landed him in the Hall as a Rodeo Notable in 2001.

Brown was a member of the OSS, a precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. He made four combat parachute jumps into China. He also won the 1962 bull riding world title, becoming the oldest ProRodeo champion in a roughstock event at 41.

Stout was the 38th member of the Cowboys’ Turtle Association and was the director of the Rodeo Cowboys Association Information Foundation and the editor of Rodeo Sports News from 1967-69. The HOF inductee as a Rodeo Notable also served in the Navy.

ProRodeo Sports News 5/28/2021

ProRodeo.com

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