arty:
As a veteran, I also appreciate the sentiment. In addition to those who are currently serving or have served, please take a moment to remember those who have died in the service of their country. It is these brave men and women that Memorial Day is designed to honor.
Today I am wearing a POW/MIA braclet in memory of CDR Joe Dunn, a guy who grew up in my neighborhood but was shot down near China in 1968.
If you have some time this weekend, check out the story of John McCain and his family in "Faith of Our Fathers" sometime Monday on A&E. Regardless of what you may think of McCain and his politics, he is a true American hero.
Today I am wearing a POW/MIA braclet in memory of CDR Joe Dunn, a guy who grew up in my neighborhood but was shot down near China in 1968.
If you have some time this weekend, check out the story of John McCain and his family in "Faith of Our Fathers" sometime Monday on A&E. Regardless of what you may think of McCain and his politics, he is a true American hero.
Thank you Racer.
I wish all of our military people, past and present, the very best and bless those who have perished in the line of fire. We need to daily remember those who are currently sacrificing their lives or wellbeing to combat whatever evils are out there.
To all Veterans, my sincere thanks.
I wish all of our military people, past and present, the very best and bless those who have perished in the line of fire. We need to daily remember those who are currently sacrificing their lives or wellbeing to combat whatever evils are out there.
To all Veterans, my sincere thanks.
Racer X said:
Very well said
Very short story: My father (god rest his soul) faught in Vietnam. He use to tell us his "infamous" story of how he was in a major fire fight, he was sweating so bad that he took his cover off for an instant to wipe his head, he then put it back on and caught a round in the head just afterward! Needless to say he survived to tell the "infamous' story.
Sports figures who died serving their country
With a life in sports, I've been dealing with statistics for some time now, and critics will always point out how "statistics" lie, and how people can manipulate the numbers to mean anything they want.
These numbers don't lie.
There were over 58,000 United States military casualties in Southeast Asia. Just from 1967-69, almost 39,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam. Unlike the veterans in previous American wars, many of those Baby Boomers sent to Vietnam neither believed in the cause, nor were appreciated by those who stayed home.
Those of us who were born into the "Lucky Calendar Club" weren't needed by our country. That doesn't excuse us from respectfully remembering those that weren't so fortunate.
There are plenty of great athletes who had their careers delayed, interrupted, or ended prematurely because they answered the call to their country's armed forces. But this piece will not deal with the brave athletes who put their lives at risk for this country. That list includes Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch, Rocky Bleier, and many others. But Memorial Day is for those who have fallen. It's a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.
In early November, there is another federal holiday (Veteran's Day) where we honor this country's veterans of all wars. We can discuss the sports stars who served their country then. Today, I will remember five war heroes from sports. The first two fought in World War I. The third lost his life in World War II. The last two left their NFL teams to serve their country, one in Vietnam and one in Afghanistan.
Hobey Baker
Hobey Baker was the country's first big hockey star and possibly the greatest athlete of his era. He was a legendary hero, and played both ice hockey and football at Princeton in the 1910s. Baker is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1945, he was part of the initial group of players elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Hobey Baker Memorial Award is presented annually to the nation's outstanding collegiate hockey player.
Fellow Princetonian F. Scott Fitzgerald used Baker as a model for the football captain in his This Side of Paradise and described Baker as, "an ideal worthy of everything in my enthusiastic admiration, yet consummated and expressed in a human being who stood within 10 feet of me."
In 1917, Baker joined the U.S. Air Corps, and became a great pilot. He shot down three German planes, and survived until the armistice. But before he could return home, the 26-year-old died in an accidental crash of his spade plane. Papers for his return to the United States were found in his pocket when the body was picked up. Witnesses of the accident believed that Baker attempted some difficult "stunt" while flying. He didn't have an opportunity to play sports professionally for a lot of money. He played ball for nothing, and worked on Wall Street after college.
Christy Mathewson
He was known as "Matty" or "Big Six," and was baseball's first hero. He captured the heart of the nation in a way that few ever have. After a 17-year playing career, Matty became the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. On Aug. 28, 1918, he entered the Army voluntarily (at the age of 38) to join the troops fighting World War I.
While in action overseas in France, he was gassed while a captain in the chemical warfare division, which permanently damaged his lungs. Mathewson and other instructors were given training against the use of poisonous gas in what was to be called "The Gas and Flame Division." He made it back to the States, where he battled tuberculosis and entered a sanitarium. While training men to deal with poisonous gas couldn't have helped his lungs, a flu plague and a family history of tuberculosis likely factored in his early passing. He died in 1925, at the age of 45.
When Mathewson died, the nation mourned him in a manner that remained unprecedented for a sports star, until perhaps last year, when NFL safety Pat Tillman died in Afghanistan. Ray Robinson's 1993 biography of Matty recalls that sportswriter Grantland Rice wrote that Mathewson, "was the only man I ever met who in spirit and inspiration was greater than his game."
Nile Kinnick
In 1939, Nile Kinnick, for whom the football stadium at the University of Iowa is named, had one of the greatest years any athlete ever had.
First of all, he did it at Iowa, which had won just a single game in both the 1937 and 1938 seasons.
In the '39 season, Kinnick almost single-handedly defeated an undefeated Notre Dame team. He scored the lone touchdown and played every minute of the 7-6 victory, even backing up the Irish with booming punts. He played all 60 minutes in six consecutive games, throwing touchdowns, kicking extra points and defensively playing safety.
He became just the fifth winner of the Heisman Trophy and was the winner of every major award given to the outstanding college football players. The Heisman award was special, but Kinnick also won the award given by the Associated Press for being the No. 1 athlete in the United States that year.
That means he defeated boxer Joe Louis and baseball star Joe DiMaggio (who batted .381, winning a batting title and MVP).
Kinnick turned down an offer to play pro football to study for his law degree. When the nation called for him in December 1941, he began training as a naval aviation cadet.
On June 2, 1943, he plunged to his death in his Navy fighter plane on a routine training flight. His plane's engine failed, and he couldn't land the plane until other planes spotted on the deck were cleared for takeoff. He crashed before he got the go-ahead to attempt a landing.
Bob Kalsu
Bob Kalsu was a football player at the University of Oklahoma in the mid-'60s and participated in the ROTC program. He was drafted by the woeful Buffalo Bills as an offensive guard. But he played only one year, 1968, before entering the service, thus missing out on being a part of the "Electric Company" — the offensive lineman who opened up holes for Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson, beginning in 1969.
Kalsu was killed by mortar fire in Vietnam in July 1970, at the age of 25.
Pat Tillman
The only other NFL player to be killed in combat besides Kalsu was Pat Tillman. Tillman turned down a three-year, multi-million contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army Rangers in May 2002, inspired in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Afghanistan, Tillman was part of Operation Mountain Storm, a campaign launched by U.S.-led forces against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. Recent revelations indicate Tillman was killed by friendly fire, but it didn't make him any less of a hero.
Like Mathewson, Tillman didn't have to join the armed forces. Like Kinnick, he died overseas, but not at the hands of the enemy. Like Kalsu, he left the stuff of most kids' dreams — the NFL — to do a job for his country.
There is no telling what any of these young men could have accomplished if they had not paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
And the final words belong to the late Kinnick, who died 60 years ago next week. The night before Kinnick was to report to duty in the naval air force program, he wrote to his parents, "Every man whom I have admired in history has willingly and courageously served his country's armed forces in times of danger. It is not only a duty, but honor, to follow their examples as best I know how." Elliott Kalb Fox Sports
With a life in sports, I've been dealing with statistics for some time now, and critics will always point out how "statistics" lie, and how people can manipulate the numbers to mean anything they want.
These numbers don't lie.
There were over 58,000 United States military casualties in Southeast Asia. Just from 1967-69, almost 39,000 Americans were killed in Vietnam. Unlike the veterans in previous American wars, many of those Baby Boomers sent to Vietnam neither believed in the cause, nor were appreciated by those who stayed home.
Those of us who were born into the "Lucky Calendar Club" weren't needed by our country. That doesn't excuse us from respectfully remembering those that weren't so fortunate.
There are plenty of great athletes who had their careers delayed, interrupted, or ended prematurely because they answered the call to their country's armed forces. But this piece will not deal with the brave athletes who put their lives at risk for this country. That list includes Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch, Rocky Bleier, and many others. But Memorial Day is for those who have fallen. It's a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.
In early November, there is another federal holiday (Veteran's Day) where we honor this country's veterans of all wars. We can discuss the sports stars who served their country then. Today, I will remember five war heroes from sports. The first two fought in World War I. The third lost his life in World War II. The last two left their NFL teams to serve their country, one in Vietnam and one in Afghanistan.
Hobey Baker
Hobey Baker was the country's first big hockey star and possibly the greatest athlete of his era. He was a legendary hero, and played both ice hockey and football at Princeton in the 1910s. Baker is a member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. In 1945, he was part of the initial group of players elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Hobey Baker Memorial Award is presented annually to the nation's outstanding collegiate hockey player.
Fellow Princetonian F. Scott Fitzgerald used Baker as a model for the football captain in his This Side of Paradise and described Baker as, "an ideal worthy of everything in my enthusiastic admiration, yet consummated and expressed in a human being who stood within 10 feet of me."
In 1917, Baker joined the U.S. Air Corps, and became a great pilot. He shot down three German planes, and survived until the armistice. But before he could return home, the 26-year-old died in an accidental crash of his spade plane. Papers for his return to the United States were found in his pocket when the body was picked up. Witnesses of the accident believed that Baker attempted some difficult "stunt" while flying. He didn't have an opportunity to play sports professionally for a lot of money. He played ball for nothing, and worked on Wall Street after college.
Christy Mathewson
He was known as "Matty" or "Big Six," and was baseball's first hero. He captured the heart of the nation in a way that few ever have. After a 17-year playing career, Matty became the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. On Aug. 28, 1918, he entered the Army voluntarily (at the age of 38) to join the troops fighting World War I.
While in action overseas in France, he was gassed while a captain in the chemical warfare division, which permanently damaged his lungs. Mathewson and other instructors were given training against the use of poisonous gas in what was to be called "The Gas and Flame Division." He made it back to the States, where he battled tuberculosis and entered a sanitarium. While training men to deal with poisonous gas couldn't have helped his lungs, a flu plague and a family history of tuberculosis likely factored in his early passing. He died in 1925, at the age of 45.
When Mathewson died, the nation mourned him in a manner that remained unprecedented for a sports star, until perhaps last year, when NFL safety Pat Tillman died in Afghanistan. Ray Robinson's 1993 biography of Matty recalls that sportswriter Grantland Rice wrote that Mathewson, "was the only man I ever met who in spirit and inspiration was greater than his game."
Nile Kinnick
In 1939, Nile Kinnick, for whom the football stadium at the University of Iowa is named, had one of the greatest years any athlete ever had.
First of all, he did it at Iowa, which had won just a single game in both the 1937 and 1938 seasons.
In the '39 season, Kinnick almost single-handedly defeated an undefeated Notre Dame team. He scored the lone touchdown and played every minute of the 7-6 victory, even backing up the Irish with booming punts. He played all 60 minutes in six consecutive games, throwing touchdowns, kicking extra points and defensively playing safety.
He became just the fifth winner of the Heisman Trophy and was the winner of every major award given to the outstanding college football players. The Heisman award was special, but Kinnick also won the award given by the Associated Press for being the No. 1 athlete in the United States that year.
That means he defeated boxer Joe Louis and baseball star Joe DiMaggio (who batted .381, winning a batting title and MVP).
Kinnick turned down an offer to play pro football to study for his law degree. When the nation called for him in December 1941, he began training as a naval aviation cadet.
On June 2, 1943, he plunged to his death in his Navy fighter plane on a routine training flight. His plane's engine failed, and he couldn't land the plane until other planes spotted on the deck were cleared for takeoff. He crashed before he got the go-ahead to attempt a landing.
Bob Kalsu
Bob Kalsu was a football player at the University of Oklahoma in the mid-'60s and participated in the ROTC program. He was drafted by the woeful Buffalo Bills as an offensive guard. But he played only one year, 1968, before entering the service, thus missing out on being a part of the "Electric Company" — the offensive lineman who opened up holes for Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson, beginning in 1969.
Kalsu was killed by mortar fire in Vietnam in July 1970, at the age of 25.
Pat Tillman
The only other NFL player to be killed in combat besides Kalsu was Pat Tillman. Tillman turned down a three-year, multi-million contract with the Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army Rangers in May 2002, inspired in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In Afghanistan, Tillman was part of Operation Mountain Storm, a campaign launched by U.S.-led forces against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters. Recent revelations indicate Tillman was killed by friendly fire, but it didn't make him any less of a hero.
Like Mathewson, Tillman didn't have to join the armed forces. Like Kinnick, he died overseas, but not at the hands of the enemy. Like Kalsu, he left the stuff of most kids' dreams — the NFL — to do a job for his country.
There is no telling what any of these young men could have accomplished if they had not paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
And the final words belong to the late Kinnick, who died 60 years ago next week. The night before Kinnick was to report to duty in the naval air force program, he wrote to his parents, "Every man whom I have admired in history has willingly and courageously served his country's armed forces in times of danger. It is not only a duty, but honor, to follow their examples as best I know how." Elliott Kalb Fox Sports
