Walter Bergman Senior, “Bus” to most, was a natural leader. From remarkable high school and college athletic performances to team leadership roles, coaching and distinguished military service, the man lived a legendary life but always said someone else was the hero.
His mentors? Coaches like Skinner Jr. High basketball coach, North Denver High football coach, Harry Hughes - (Hughes Stadium at CSU campus) - and others who helped shape his character. Youth need quality mentors who can be trusted to guide and inspire greatness through character and by examples.
Bus became the leading HS running back in Colorado even though he didn't play football until his senior year; top scoring player in basketball his senior year and hit a buzzer-beater to win the last state championship North High has earned, to date. Through college, he led among his peers, serving as student body president, and team captain for both football and basketball his senior year at Colorado A & M (now CSU).
He was a "late bloomer" until senior year of HS, growing to 6' 2" and 220#. Formidable on the field, his nickname came partly from the size. Two seem fitting to his family, about the nickname Bus. Some people started calling him Buster after the WWII era comic strip character Buster Brown - also large in stature. Others said trying to tackle him was like trying to tackle a bus - long before Steelers hall of famer, Jerome Bettis was dubbed "the Bus".
Bus and teammate, Red Eastlac, who both lettered in athletics 10 times at CO A&M, signed their USMC enlistment papers mid-court during one college basketball game in 1942 shortly after WWII began in an effort to help the Marines recruit more troops, leading by example. (Bus also hit a buzzer beater, game-winning shot against big rival CU during his senior year.) Lettering was limited to sophomores and upper classmen then and each had earned their letter in football, basketball and baseball and each limited to once per year. Following the war, those governing college sports allowed an additional year of athletics eligibility and both were allowed to letter in baseball again. At the time it was considered a minor sport.
Recruiting those with college degrees to military service meant assigning leadership commissions right after completing basic training. There was little formal officer training up front; after all it was wartime.
When USMC forces took a key position on Okinawa, serious combat supply shortages arose; ammunition in particular. Counter offensives made resupplying crucial. Then 1st Lt. Walter Bergman, earned the Bronze star for heroic actions and the meritorious V for valor on the night of May ,18-19, 1945. Through his own initiative, he organized resupply routes for three companies under his command - on foot, the only way to achieve it. He was awarded the Bronze Star for exceptional merit under combat conditions and the "V" for valor for his leadership and personal risk while coordinating with and personally visiting troops on the front lines during the barrage.
Following his completion of graduate school back at A&M, and declining a pro football contract to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, Bus accepted the head football coach position at Fort Lewis College in Durango. When asked why he would turn down one of the most lucrative offers ever made by the Eagles he simply told them, “I lifted some heavy things in the Marines and hurt my back.” What he didn’t tell most people and few ever knew, was that the injuries occurred in combat as he carried one after another of his comrades from the battlefield, often under heavy fire.
Leading Ft. Lewis to their only undefeated season - to date - in 1947, was achieved with his half brother, Bill Noxon playing on the team he coached. Bill scored at least one touchdown in every game he played for Ft. Lewis. After two winning seasons there Bus got a visit from a fishing buddy who was the Athletic Director at Grand Junction’s Mesa College and was told by this “buddy” Jay Tolman, that he wasn’t going home until Bus agreed to become the head coach for football and baseball at Mesa. After four days, Bus told his wife, “I think he’s serious. I better take the job.” Thus began his time in Grand Junction. Besides the love of sports and fly fishing, Bus and Jay had another common bond. Both grew up without their birth fathers. Jay’s dad died from a serious baseball injury when Jay was a young boy (under 12) and Bus’s dad died from appendicitis complications when Bus was only two years old. Perhaps having that in common was one of the things that made their friendship so strong and their working relationship so successful.
JUCO’s story has been told many ways. This year with the help of Bus’s son Walt, we can share a little more of the roots and look further forward too.
As early as 1954 the idea of a national tournament for JUCO Baseball was taking roots with Walter “Bus” Bergman while he coached Mesa College and the GJ Eagles Semi Pro team. Then, there were no major-league teams west of the Missouri River. His time as head coach of the Eagles took the team multiple times to the American Baseball Congress tournament in Wichita, Kansas and he gained valuable insights into how a tournament could be organized and operated. One day while discussing the idea with Jay Tolman in the basement office of Wuben Hall, the “old man”, Dr Horace Wuben, frequent eavesdropper, overheard Bus say, “wonder what the ‘old man’ would think of the idea”. At that point Dr. Wuben emerged from his listening place and said, “the ‘old man’ loves the idea”!
Finally in 1958 the first JUCO baseball tournament, poorly attended and by all accounts pretty miserable for players and meager fanbase alike, was held in Miami, Oklahoma. It didn’t take long for Bus and a few other founding influencers to get busy advocating for the tournament to come to Grand Junction. To say “the rest is history” would be a huge understatement. In recent years the community has made immense improvements to Suplizio field and to the football side of the Lincoln Park sportsplex as well, investing a combined $19 Million in improvement projects, leading to the current agreement which secures GJ as JUCO’s home through 2044. What a legacy!
“Humble and confident, the guy everyone wanted to hang out with,” is how one admirer described Bus. His son Walt said this about another recurring statement; “People would say ‘being with Bus in public was like being with a celebrity’. ” Walt remembers going for a five minute walk downtown which turned into 20 minutes or more because everybody wanted to talk with his dad. .
At the memorial service for Bus his grandson said something like this: “I hope I can accomplish even a small fraction of what he did in his lifetime.”
Special thanks to Walt Bergman who shared a close up view of his dad’s story. There’s so much more to tell than time or space permits. Though just scratching the surface, together with those who knew him best, we hope our community is inspired by knowing more of the story that goes with the name Bus Bergman.
At first sight, Tommy Lasorda (Didgers), guest speaker at JUCO, "Now that man's a coach!"
Shortly before he died, Bus's daughter, Jane Norton, former CO, Lt. Governor to Bill Owens said, "Good news dad; there's baseball in heaven". He replied, "I hope they'll let me hit."
[Among Pacific Theater Marines], "uncommon valor was a common virtue."
Colonel Chesty Puller -:USMC