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Rick Hausman, Buckeye Who Left 1968 National Championship Team to Join U.S. Army, Receives Honorary Gold Pants

A Buckeye who left Ohio State’s 1968 national championship team to join the United States Army has been awarded honorary Gold Pants.

Several Buckeyes gathered at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Tuesday to honor the life of Pfc. Rick Hausman. A walk-on for Woody Hayes, Hausman answered the call to serve in the Vietnam War in 1968, leaving an Ohio State team that went on to beat Michigan and win a national title. Two months after he arrived in Vietnam, Hausman was killed in action, earning a posthumous Silver Star for valor in combat.