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Several modern sources repeat a story about how Nevers' "battalion" (a group of 300-800) was missing in action on a deserted island for several months during WWII. The renditions of this story typically report that his wife died while he was away (untrue, he was stationed in Santa Barbara and went to her bedside when she fell ill) and that he developed beri beri and weighed 110 pounds when rescued. There is NOTHING in the reporting at the time of the war (or, indeed, anything published during Nevers' lifetime) to back up or in any way corroborate the story. Indeed, the contemporary reportage shows that he was in the Pacific Theater from Oct 1943 to Oct 1944; he was interviewed during this period and, upon his return, it was reported that he had spent 10 months in charge of ground personnel with a squadron in the South Pacific. The complete lack of contemporary support for the "stranded" story suggests that it is probably a modern invention. I can't find anything reporting the story until the late 2000s -- some 30 years after Nevers died. If anyone has anything to definitively confirm or disprove the story, please present it. For now, I have removed the story from the article. Cbl62 (talk) 19:47, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]
The "stranded" story was added to Wikipedia in 2013 with this diff. Examples of the "stranded" story can be found in this article from a local newspaper in 2008 and this book published in 2013. The story has also found its way onto Find-a-Grave here and a finding aid written in 2014 from the Online Archive of California here. Cbl62 (talk) 20:08, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Nevers's parents moved from Wisconsin to California in 1920. At first, he stayed behind with other family members in Superior, Wisconsin, but a letter from his father convinced him to join them in California. After two seasons of football for Superior Central High School, he played his senior year for Santa Rosa High School in the fall of 1920. Interestingly, Nevers was not needed during Superior Central's football season of 1920: The Vikings completed an undefeated season and won the state championship without him. The basketball season was different. He started the season for Santa Rosa but a letter from home persuaded him to return to Superior Central to play basketball for the Vikings. He returned to his hometown to live with an older sibling and graduated from Central High School in Superior, Wisconsin, in 1921. On page 17 of Ernie Nevers, Football Hero, author Jim Scott wrote, "After graduation from Superior, Ernie rejoined his parents in Santa Rosa. Shortly after, Attorney Geary looked him up. It turned out that he was a Stanford graduate keenly interested in enrolling Ernie at his alma mater." Geary sold him on Stanford even though he initially wanted to go to the University of Wisconsin with his Superior football teammate Paul "Puddy" Nelson. Nevers attended Santa Rosa Junior College prior to entering Stanford to complete a foreign language entrance requirement. It is well documented in contemporary newspapers that Nevers played in the Wisconsin state basketball tournament for Superior Central, coached by Ira "Irl" Tubbs, in 1919, 1920, and 1921. The Vikings were state champions and participated in an interstate tournament in 1920. In 1921, teammate John "Bone" Hancock, a future star football player for the University of Iowa, was injured in Central's quarterfinals win. Hancock was the team's leading scorer but was unable to play in the semifinals. Nevers scored all 12 of Central's points in the 20-12 loss on March 25, 1921, at Madison, Wisconsin, his last high school basketball game. Nevers's high school athletic career is documented here: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/2155ca_d07a48a956c147b5a3ac282506e58da2.pdf— Preceding unsigned comment added by TwonB (talk • contribs) 06:53, 8 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]
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