Harvey Overesch

Who was Harvey Overesch?

Harvey Edward Overesch was an Vice admiral in the U.S. Navy and American football player.

A native of Lafayette, Indiana, Overesch attended Purdue University for two years before enrolling as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy. He played at the end positions for the Navy Midshipmen football team. In December 1913, he was elected as the captain of the 1914 Navy football team. He was also selected as a third-team All-American by Walter Camp in 1914. Overesch also competed for Navy's basketball team and on its eight-oared crew. He won the Navy Athletic Association sword in 1915 for "greatest personal excellence in athletics" in the Academy's Class of 1915.

He was given the nickname "Swede" at the Naval Academy.

Overesch became a career officer in the U.S. Navy, attaining the rank of vice admiral. In November 1937, he was serving as a naval attache in Shanghai, China when Japanese forces attacked the city. Overesch provided the Associated Press with his first-hand account of watching the battle from the upper floors of a Chinese teahouse with the nearest fighting less than 50 yards away.

Overesch served for three years with the Pacific Fleet from 1939 to 1942.