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Elmer Rhenstrom
Elmer Gustaf "Swede" Rhenstrom (August 18, 1895 – December 26, 1967) was World War I fighter pilot, professional football player, and airline manager.[1] Rhenstrom was an end for the inaugural Horlick-Racine Legion team in the National Football League (NFL) in 1922. BiographyElmer Rhenstrom, known to his friends as "Swede", was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin.[2] He was the son of Anthony Rhenstrom (1865–1955) and Emma Stahl Rhenstrom (1866–1939), both immigrants from Sweden.[2] Rhenstrom served as a pilot in France during the First World War, where he shot down two (unofficially three) enemy aircraft, for which he was referred to as an ace.[1][3] He was awarded the Silver Star for his activity during the Great War in October 1941, on the eve of American entry into World War II.[4]
In 1922, he signed on with the Racine Post of the American Legion to play football for their professional football team — the Racine Legion of the National Football League.[1] In 1928 he joined Fairfield Aviation in Riverside, Ohio,[1][6] and in 1929 he became a manager at Texas Air Transport Inc.[6] In the 1940s he was an officer at Scott Field near Belleville, Illinois.[4] References
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