Articles
Reprinted from Post Times-Star, 1964 as written by Pat Harmon, Sports Editor) Taken from the GAS Ready Room Newsletter.
“Clifton Cushman is a lieutenant in the Air Force. He was a second in the 400-meter hurdles at the Rome Olympics in 1960 and had hoped to reach Tokyo for the 1964 games. He never made it. Cushman hit a hurdle in the U.S. team trials and fell down.
The race, held in Los Angeles, was on national TV and seen by Cushman’s friends in Grand Forks, ND, his hometown, and Lawrence, Kansas, where he attended college.
Cushman could have felt sorry for himself, but didn’t. Instead, he sat down and wrote a letter to the youth of his hometown. His letter was printed in the Grand Forks Herald and the Lawrence Journal World and has been forwarded to me by Dolph Simons, Jr. publisher of the Journal World. The rest of the words in this column are Cushman’s”
An Open Letter to Youth
Don’t feel sorry for me. I feel sorry for some of you! You may have seen the U.S. Olympic Trials on television. If so, you watched me hit the fifth hurdle, fall and lie on the track in an inglorious heap of skinned elbows, bruised hips, torn knees and injured pride, unsuccessful in my attempt to make the Olympic Team for the second time.
In a split second all the many years of training, pain, sweat, blisters and agony of running were simply and irrevocably wiped out. But I tried! I would much rather fail knowing I had put forth an honest effort than to never have tried at all.
This is not to say that everyone is capable of making the Olympic Team. However, each of you is capable of trying to make your own personal “Olympic Team”, whether it be the high school football team, the glee club, the honor roll, or whatever your goal may be.
Unless your reach exceeds your grasp, how can you be sure what you can attain? And don’t you think there are things better than cigarettes, hot-rod cars, school drop-outs, excessive make-up, and duck-tail grease-cuts?
Over 15 years ago I saw a star...first place in the Olympic Games. I literally started to run after it. In 1960 I came within 3 yards of grabbing it; this year, I stumbled, and fell and watched it recede four more years away.
Certainly, I was very disappointed in falling flat on my face. However, there is nothing I can do about it now but get up, pick out the cinders from my wounds, and take one more step followed by one more and one more, until the steps turn into miles and the miles into success.
I know I may never make it. The odds are against me, but I have something in my favor-desire and faith.
Romans 5:3-5 has always had an inspirational meaning to me in this regard. …“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us….”
At least I am going to try.
How about you? Would a little extra effort on your part bring up your grade average? Would you have a better chance to make the football team if you stayed an extra 15 minutes after practice and worked on your blocking?
Let me tell you something about yourself. You are taller and heavier than any past generation in this country. You are spending more money, enjoying more freedom, and driving more cars than ever before, yet many of you are very unhappy.
Some of you have never known the satisfaction of doing your best in sports, the joy of excelling in class, the wonderful feeling of completing a job, any job, and looking back on it knowing that you have done your best.
I dare you to have your hair cut and not wilt under the comments of your so-called friends.
I dare you to clean up your language.
I dare you to honor your mother and father.
I dare you to go to church without having to be compelled to go by your parents.
I dare you to unselfishly help someone less fortunate than yourself and enjoy the wonderful feeling that goes with it.
I dare you to become physically fit.
I dare you to read a book that is not required in school.
I dare you to look up at the stars, not down at the mud, and set your sights on one of them that, up to now, you thought was unattainable.
There is plenty of room at the top, but no room for anyone to sit down.
Who knows? YOU may be surprised at what you can achieve with sincere effort. So, get up, pick the cinders out of your wounds, and take one more step.
I dare you!
Sincerely,
Clifton E. Cushman
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