Navy Sports
Navy Proud at U.S. Senate
Why Play Notre Dame? (Thomas, ND '45)
Salvaging the American Football Culture - 4 Quarters of Inspiration New!
Operation Goat Rope
Remembering the First Navy-Air Force Football Game
The Right Blend: Navy's Storied '63 Season
Why Play Notre Dame? (Spangenberg, '48)
Army-Navy Sea Stories: 1955 & 1957
Army-Navy Game - A Navy Sports "Sea Story"
'Send a Volley Cheer on High'...By Phone
Navy Proud at U.S. Senate
By Capt. Gordon Peterson '68, USN (Ret.)
With the Army-Navy football game scheduled Saturday, I decided to wear my Naval Academy "N" sweater to today's Senate Army Caucus breakfast in the historic Kennedy Caucus Room in the Senate Russell Office Building.
The spacious Caucus Room, scene of major Senate hearings dating to the loss of the Titanic a century ago, was filled with Army officers and senior enlisted NCOs resplendent in their "Army blue" dress uniforms. Clearly, Army was not prepared for this surprise attack! I was seated at a table in the center of the room next to Army Chief of Staff Gen Ray Odierno USMA '76 (clearly an interior lineman, as was his vice chief, Gen Austin, USMA '75).
Sen Jim Inhofe, cochair of the Caucus, called on me to stand and be recognized wearing my N-sweater. Where was the Academy's pep band when I needed them? Although more than 100 soldiers opposed me, I was not outnumbered. I told the Army officers at my table (for what I thought was a "Beat Army pep rally") that the mule sausages were tough and tasteless!
I'm pictured here (on the right) after the breakfast with Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Ray Odierno, West Point '76.
Later today, I had the occasion to stop by the Navy's Office of Senate Liaison. Three impressive lieutenants were proudly wearing their N letters--LT Mike Mullee ('08 sailing), LT Kari Szewczyk ('04 off-shore sailing), and LT Cameron Lindsay ('07 track & field).
I counted five "N-stars" on LT Lindsay's sweater! We walked up a deck in the Russell Senate Office Building to the office of my boss, Senator Jim Webb '68 for a group photo. The "senior senator from Virginia" happened to pass by at the time and shook hands with each lieutenant. In the event you don't recognize me, I'm shown third from left ... N-star, track! I must assume this is one of the more unusual displays of USNA "Beat Army" spirit! Go Navy, Beat Army!
Why Play Notre Dame?
By Captain Robert E. Thomas, USN (Ret.)
Preface: In the December issue of the "Shipmate" on page 13, the question was asked "Why play Notre Dame?" Please permit me to introduce myself and include an email that relates to the subject. I graduated as Ensign in the NROTC unit at Notre Dame in 1945, and served on active duty in the Navy for 27 years (mostly in the submarine service) and retired as a Captain. As a young Lieutenant Commander, I taught Navigation at Luce Hall at the Naval Academy 1958-60. I am one of the few Associate Members of the USNA Alumni Association and always look forward to receiving my copy of "Shipmate".
Before the most recent Notre Dame-Navy game, I sent the below Email to many of my Navy and Notre Dame friends. I think the message and the attached picture explains a lot about the relationship between Notre Dame and the Navy. If it had not been for the Navy during World War II, there might not be a University of Notre Dame today.
Robert E. Thomas, Captain, USN (Retired)
Past President of Notre Dame Alumni Class of 1945
Associate Member of Naval Academy Alumni Association
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: NOTRE DAME VS NAVY
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 06:23:18 -0700
From: Bob Thomas
This Saturday (October 28), the football teams of the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame and the Midshipmen of the U. S. Naval Academy will meet in Baltimore to play their 80th game against each other.. The game will be aired on CBS starting at Noon (EDT). This series started in 1927 and has been played every year without interruption. This is the longest consecutive series in college football.
Of the past 79 games, Notre Dame has won 69, Navy has won 9 and there has been one tie. Notre Dame has won the last 42 games. Why does this lop-sided series continue? The attached picture gives some insight into the answer. The picture was taken in April 1944. The first group of six rows is the Midshipman School (approx 1200). The second group of one row on the sidewalk is the NROTC unit (approx. 120). The third group of two rows (on the grass between the sidewalks) is the Marine V-12 unit (approx. 200). The fourth group (on the grass in the rear) is the Navy V-12 unit (approx. 700). In the background is the Knute Rockne Memorial building (built about 1938). These approximately 2200 men in the picture constituted about 80% of the "students" on campus.
The Navy and Notre Dame institutions have always had a deep respect for each other. At the conclusion of the 2005 game (played at Notre Dame, and won by Notre Dame 42-21), the entire Notre Dame football team and their coaches assembled in front of the Naval Academy contingent and stood at attention with their helmets over their hearts while the Naval Academy Midshipmen sang their alma mater ("Navy Blue & Gold"). This series is very special!
Since I graduated at Notre Dame, spent a long career in the Navy, and taught at the Naval Academy, I always watch this game with great mixed emotions.
GO NAVY !! GO IRISH !!
Salvaging the American Football Culture - 4 Quarters of Inspiration
By Captain A.M. Boyle, USMC
I'm a football fan. I love that it's America's game and unique to our culture. Eleven men on each team battle with strength, and agility to advance their own position while stopping their opponent. Football requires strategy, physical effort and teamwork. Like many sports, it offers valuable life lessons. To succeed, players must be disciplined and work together. Being part of a team can teach selflessness and the need to sacrifice for the good of others. If you miss your blocking assignment, one of your teammates suffers, in fact the whole team suffers. The vitality and force of the game teaches athletes something that many other sports do not. Every play someone is getting hit. Players learn to take hit, and they learn to give a hit. They learn that they are not made of glass and they realize that all important reality- when you get knocked down, you’ve got to get back up again. Football has been so wildly popular in this nation because it inherently reflects values that Americans hold dear.
What has happened to our beloved American game?
This fall, we've been bombarded by hideous and reprehensible behavior by coaches and players at both the collegiate and professional level. As a nation, we learned of the unthinkable evil propagated by the rogue acts of a former coach. We were appalled by the cowardly complicity of those involved with the program. On Thanksgiving Day, many watched as an NFL player intentionally kicked his opponent who lay on the ground. Later, in the press conference, the offender had the audacity to defend his acts. Finally, this week, the NFL announced that a number of players with various teams in the league had failed drug tests during a lock-out related grace period negotiated between the NFL and the players’ union. Amazingly, a majority of the players'; cases are being dismissed due to it being a “first time offense”. Essentially, the NFL knew that when the lock-out suddenly ended that many players would fail drug tests. So, they disregarded the first failed tests. Now, only a few three time offenders will be out for the season with no pay, a whopping three weeks, for certain teams not going to the playoffs.
In our love for the game, have we elevated those who coach and play to a level that they do not deserve? I am disgusted when I list just a few of the scandalous acts: the defense of innocent young children took a second string spot to the reputation of a program, kicking someone when they are down and defending it, multiple violations of the law and league standards through drug use- none of these are acceptable! This does not represent the game we love, that greatness of America and the values we defend, here at home and around the world.
As an officer in the United States Marine Corps, I am honored to serve with young men and women who train like the finest athletes. Like football players, they must learn to work as a team pushing themselves to the limit and sacrificing for a good greater than themselves. Like football players they must learn to take a hit and to give hit, and in training if they do not get up again when knocked down, it may cost them or those on their left and right their lives in combat. The differences between the professional athletes we glorify and our American military are extreme. They don’t share an income bracket. Many American servicemen earn in one year what some professional football players earn in one game. They don’t share fame. Nobody is wearing one of our soldiers’ names across his back Sunday when he sits down to watch the game. And thank God, they don’t share a punitive system. The American serviceman or woman is held to the highest expectation. He/she knows that rules and regulations govern their actions and those rules don’t oscillate depending on who’s in charge. Punishment is real and effective.
I understand the NFL is not the U.S. Military. But do we really want to esteem men who are held to the most minimal of standards? In the Marine Corps, we don’t tolerate drug abuse. Offenders are processed out with other than honorable discharges. The expectations are known, and the standards are enforced.
This Saturday, there is one particular football game I am eager to watch. Competing are two teams who understand their role as athletes, but more importantly, they embrace their role as leaders in our country’s military – on and off the field. I hope the nation recognizes this game! These two teams can help salvage our American football culture that has become so tarnished.
The Army/Navy game between The United States Military Academy at West Point, NY and The United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md is one of the most inspiring classic rivalries in sports. If you’re looking for leaders from a football program, than look no further. They are on both sides of the field on Saturday. The lessons these players learn on the field is parallel to what they do off the field, and the life that awaits them upon graduation as commissioned officers in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps. Brian Stann is one of the many alum of this game who attended the Naval Academy, and was the team captain and middle linebacker. He graduated and served in the Marine Corps harnessing the discipline and leadership he developed with his teammates and translating that into courage and decisiveness for his Marines. These noble traits were repeatedly tested against the enemy in Iraq and under the most austere conditions. His actions saved American lives and he was awarded the nation’s third highest medal for combat valor, the Silver Star. Stann's story is just one of a thousand that have played out throughout the length of the storied rivalry
This weekend’s gridiron match-up between these storied programs was once a game that determined our national college football champion. In the 1940’s West Point won three straight national titles. Furthermore, athletes from both schools received the coveted Heisman Trophy going to multiple different players in the nineteen forties, fifties, and sixties. This year the schools are having marginal seasons compared to years past. But the Cadets of West Point and Midshipmen of Annapolis did not sign up to play at these institutions for football fame. Many of these scholar athletes could’ve played in other stadiums where their status as a football player would’ve potentially elevated them above the normal rules and regulations of the university. The service academies are unique from most other colleges, and yet they are similar to each other. The academies demand that students give their very best: morally, mentally, and physically. As an undergraduate of the military service, each step of a player’s path is designed to develop them as professional officers in the United States Military. Football is secondary to this focus of training leaders with the highest ideals of duty, honor, and loyalty. Unlike other Division I programs, their responsibility is toward an Honor Code encompassing the entire student body. There are no exceptions. The entire four year experience trains our nation’s young men and women for leadership responsibilities awaiting them as officers in the the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps.
The 112th match-up of these two programs has been documented this year by SHOWTIME Sports and CBS Sports who joined forces to capture the dedication of the players, their unique classroom experiences, and rigorous military training that will collectively prepare them for their lives in the armed service. The documentary, A Game of Honor, will culminate with this Saturday’s contest and ultimately air December 21st highlighting their experiences on the field, in the classroom, and in various military training environments.
Let us direct our attention and love for the game to the two teams that play for the reputations of their school’s program, and for their teammates on the left and right. They play for their brothers and sisters serving in uniform. They even play for the man who lines up across them at the scrimmage line. It’s a brotherhood. Each player knows that one day it could be a graduate of the other service academy who provides fire support to fight through an ambush, a close air strike that routes the enemy, or a life saving “medevac” that brings a wounded warrior home. These athletes are true leaders and aspiring to authentic heroism. As a nation, we can choose to highlight true heroes in American football and through this game perhaps develop the future youth of our nation into tomorrow’s leaders. Children and adults can learn valuable lessons from these inspiring teams. Their players are role models. They play for those who have gone before, those who shall follow, and those who are no longer with us.
The views presented are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Defense, the Department of the Navy or the United States Marine Corps.
Operation Goat Rope
By Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward ’79, USN
For military operations to be successful there needs to be careful planning and flawless execution. On the eve of this year’s Army-Navy game, a team of four Sailors and one Airman executed their mission flawlessly: Operation Goat Rope.
The task was to deliver a Navy goat to Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, the morning of the Army-Navy football game during his morning meeting while he was talking to all the regional commanders in Afghanistan—the preponderance being Army—via video teleconference. This mission would require precise timing and navigating through several potential landmines to achieve success.
The operation started in the early morning hours of Dec. 11, when the team departed Camp Phoenix to drive to ISAF headquarters with Yeoman 2nd Class (SW) Jeffrey Warner behind the wheel. Lt. Cmdr. Matthew McNally (Citadel class of 2000) previously coordinated with one of our local national interpreters to secure the goat. As day was breaking on Kabul, the team anxiously awaited a phone call saying the goat had arrived.
The phone call came a few minutes later. The team drove to the rendezvous point to join up with the interpreter. Moments later, an Afghan National Army truck pulled up with the goat in the back. After some wrangling, the goat was offloaded and transferred to U.S. custody.
After loading the goat into the back of an SUV, the team then navigated through several layers of security to arrive at the ISAF compound. When they arrived, Lt. Jesse Adams (University of Miami law school), a staff judge advocate officer and our “eyes at ISAF,” and Lt. Cmdr. Eric Van Dyke (Texas A&M) offloaded the goat to a holding area before the meeting.
The team had arrived early, so they had to cordon off the goat from ISAF headquarters. In the process, the goat had a few accidents, which required some dutiful clean up. The team remained in constant contact with several supporting members, who kept them up to date on when to head into the meeting.
While cordoned off, the goat attracted a lot of attention. Dozens of people learned of the plan and wanted their picture taken with the soon-to-be star. Every Sailor who saw the goat knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity.
The call finally came to head to the meeting. The team proudly marched the goat through the ISAF compound, but as they were about to enter the building, the goat stopped cooperating. It took a few nudges and Adams finally carrying the goat up the stairs to get him outside the conference room.
Along the way, the team ran into Rear Adm. Martha Herb, Chief Secretariat, Military Technical Agreement Joint Coordinating Body for ISAF. Although working for General Petraeus, Admiral Herb quickly joined her Navy brothers for the operation.
As the team anxiously awaited, Admiral Herb poked her head into the standup and at precisely the right moment, waived the team in for the presentation.
The reception was one for the ages. McNally led the goat in and a photographer, Air Force Master Sgt. Adam Stump, captured the moment as the entire room erupted in laughter. General Petraeus acknowledged the team with, “that’s great, guys,” as U.S. and coalition leaders from around Afghanistan watched.
After the laughter died down, General Petraeus gamely returned to his meeting as the team and the goat departed triumphantly. There were several more rounds of photos as Sailors now went in search of their chance to capture history. The team brought the goat back to Camp Phoenix, where he was kept peacefully until his return trip home.
As a historical footnote, General Petraeus has experience in handling Navy goats. As illustrated in the enclosed picture, then-Cadet Petraeus was part of an Army team in 1973 who successfully “liberated” the Navy goat, although it didn’t help much since Navy won 51-0 that year. Thirty-seven years later, the rivalry came full circle with now-General Petraeus receiving the goat back.
As everyone now knows, Navy beat Army Dec. 11 by a final score of 31-17, extending the Midshipmen’s winning streak to nine over the Cadets in the 111th meeting between the teams. While the game was in Philadelphia, the rivalry—and a carefully and flawlessly executed goat delivery operation—extended 7,000 miles away in Afghanistan.
PHOTO 1: Operation Goat Rope team members (clockwise, from front left) Lt. Cmdr. Eric Van Dyke, Lt. Cmdr. Matthew McNally, Lt. Jesse Adams and Yeoman 2nd Class (SW) Jeffrey Warner march the goat through ISAF headquarters Dec. 11 on way to deliver a Navy mascot to Army Gen. David H. Petraeus. (Defense Dept. photo by Air Force Master Sgt. Adam M. Stump)
PHOTO 2: U.S. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan commander, receives a goat adorned with a Navy flag during his morning meeting Dec. 11, 2010. U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Robert S. Harward, USNA class of ’79 and Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435 commander, dispatched a team of four Sailors to give the general the goat, symbolic of the U.S. Naval Academy mascot, before the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia. (Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Adam M. Stump)
PHOTO 3: Vice Adm. Robert S. Harward, USNA class of ’79, (middle) poses with the goat and Operation Goat Rope members (from left) Yeoman 2nd Class (SW) Jeffrey Warner, Lt. Cmdr. Matthew McNally, Lt. Cmdr. Eric Van Dyke, and Air Force Master Sgt. Adam Stump. Lt. Jesse Adams, not pictured, was also involved in the operation. (Defense Dept. photo by Air Force Staff Sgt. George Cloutier)
PHOTO 4: Then-Cadet David H. Petraeus poses with a “Beat Navy” sheep during his West Point days. (Courtesy Army Gen. David H. Petraeus)
Remembering the First Navy-Air Force Football Game
by Mike Hoernemann ‘61
My class of 1961 included a group of clever and creative characters who were very good at staging innovative and humorous stunts for various events, including, in particularly, football games. They frequently specialized in having stunts that initially seemed to be in support of Navy’s opponents. This would get the other team’s stands cheering, while the Navy side was silent. Then, in an instant, the stunt would involve a reversal that favored Navy; silencing and embarrassing the cheering opponents, and energizing the Navy supporters with cheers and laughing jeers. The groups most memorable accomplishments had to be the first football game between Navy and Air Force.
The Air Force Academy graduated its first class in 1959. When the AF Academy was established, there was a big effort to emulate the years of tradition of Annapolis and West Point, while still establishing themselves as the premier space age service in marked contrast to the much older Navy and Army. This attitude was even reflected in sports, where Air Force had adopted a sleek fighting falcon as a mascot.
Air Force had first played, and tied, Army in the fall of 1959. The first meeting with Navy was scheduled to occur in Baltimore in 1960. Around half of the Wing of cadets was flown back for the big game. Air Force was not a big draw on the East Coast and there was a lot of hype in the papers in an effort to sell tickets to the general public. One of the big items that was much ballyhooed in advance, was a planned halftime demonstration of the trained AF mascots. The falcons were trained to fly loose at stadiums and make diving attacks at a lure being whirled around on a tether by a cadet handler.
During the pregame activities, it was traditional to introduce school mascots, often with elaborate props and hoop-la. A cable had been stretched from the top of the scoreboard at one end of the field, downward and over the heads of the midshipman. At the end of the cable, on top of the scoreboard, there was a beautiful cardboard and paper crepe replica of a Falcon with wings spread out to about 8 or so feet. It was very professional looking. At an appropriate time, the stadium announcer indicated to the crowd that the Air Force mascot was the fighting falcon as represented by the large model on the scoreboard. With the Air Force partisans wildly cheering the model started to move down the cable in a swoop towards the mids. About 50 feet before the model reached the mids, the Navy touchdown cannon went off, and the model bird blew up and was totally disintegrated. The wildly cheering Air Force fans were instantly silenced and the Navy crowd went wild.
The next step was to be the entrance of the Navy goat. A rickety, patched up float of an Air Force fighter was towed onto the field. It was obvious to everyone that the fighter would fall apart and the goat and his handlers would emerge. Before this could occur, a dozen or so AF cadets, including their cheerleaders, ran onto the field with smoke bombs on spikes and ignited them and set them in the ground around the float, completely obliterating any sight of the goat. However, an equal number of mids immediately ran onto the field, grabbed the smoke bombs by their spikes, ran over to the stands and tossed them up into the cadet wing. Smoke flew all around and many a sky blue uniform was suitably tarnished. But the fun had only begun.
As the smoke cleared, the pregame activities continued with a spirited march-on by the Brigade Drum and Bugles Corps. They did their thing, marching up and down the field playing all the traditional Navy numbers. Of course the Navy supporters cheered them on, while the Air Force side was silent. But then, as the Navy musicians left the field, the announcer broadcast that, “Now, representing the Air Force, we have the University of Virginia Air Force ROTC marching band.” A band of about 24 musicians, dressed in khaki uniforms, marched smartly onto the field from the sidelines. As the surprised Air Force crowd cheered, and Navy was now silent, the band went to the center of the field and started to execute a right turn to go down the field. Suddenly two band members at the back turned left. They started to run back and return, but one of them lost his pants, (exposing bright red shorts). At the same time, two marchers collided and dropped their instruments. Several more did countermarches and collided. And in a space of less that 10 seconds the band went from organized military unit to the total chaos of a clown troupe , breaking apart and running off the field in all directions. Of course, the whole thing was a Navy stunt. No one had time to realize that there was no such thing as an UV AFROTC marching band and it was just a bunch of mids. It was a great stunt, and as planned, left the Brigade laughing out loud, and the AF cadets fuming and looking for revenge on the playing field.
The game started with AF scoring first on a field goal, but that was to be their only points for the day, on or off the field. As half time approached, the announcers kept hyping the big falcon flight demo. But first, it was Navy’s turn. SECNAV had dispatched the crack USMC Drum and Bugle Corps, which was a top notch military unit marching with great precision in their brilliant scarlet dress uniforms. Plus they had the Marine drill team on hand, playing catch and “baton-twirling” with their chrome-plated rifles. It was an impressive show and used up most all of the half time. Finally, the big moment came for the performing falcons. The handlers came on with their birds and released two of them, who flew in a big circle around the inside of the stadium, as they had been conditioned to do. But then, as the handlers swung lures on a long line, the birds, instead of diving on the lures, just went and sat on the top of the scoreboard. The frustrated handlers ran around on the field trying to get the birds attention, hollering and twirling the lures. But the birds remain perched, with cocked heads and a dazed confused look. Finally, as the teams came back on the field, the birds made a few feeble swoops and that was the big show.
The game was almost anticlimactic. Navy won 35-3.
After the game, rumors started to spread around the Brigade that some mids had taken some actions that affected the AF trained birds. Details and names were not mentioned, and a fuller story really only came to light quite a bit later. The gist of it was that some classmates had gone into a skinny lab, scavenged some parts from some old sonar sets, and with the possible support of some officer instructors, fabricated a high frequency transmitter, and installed it beneath the stands at the stadium. Broadcasting above the range of human hearing, it was heard by the birds and disoriented them. True or just urban myth, and subsequent revelations many years later seemed to verify the story, thousands of eye witnesses saw that something certainly happened to the birds. Among the reasons for more info not coming out were that apparently no one had gotten any permission to use the lab equipment, several FCC regs were probably violated, and if any officer instructors had helped, or even just looked the other way, they could have gotten into big trouble. In any event, it is a great story, and the events were witnessed by the entire classes of “61 through ’64.
The Right Blend: Navy's Storied '63 Season
By Don McPhail
As a new football season approaches, fans seek comfort in past glories while they peer into the mysteries presented by new players and regrouped opponents. Two of Navy's most glorious seasons came over forty years ago, in 1960 and 1963, and occurred during head coach Wayne Hardin's tenure. Each team made legitimate runs at the national championship, and each was led by a Heisman Trophy winner: fiery Joe Bellino in 1960, and the legendary Roger Staubach in 1963.
Many believe that Navy's finest team was the 1963 squad that ended up ranked #2 in the country after a 28-6 post-season loss to #1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Ironically, the '63 team lost its only 2 games in the Cotton Bowl Stadium, where Staubach would later begin his career as a Dallas Cowboy.
The Staubach-led squad began the season as a typical Navy team -- quick, tough and disciplined, and likely to compete in every game. No-one expected them to actually win all but one of them and earn a major bowl slot. As the year unfolded, the 1963 team proved also to be courageous and quite special. This scrappy group of overachievers captured the interest of America's football fans with an upset win at Notre Dame, and it showcased the most exciting player in the country. And its success was directly linked to the nationally ranked 1960 squad, whose influence on the incoming 1961 plebes and 1962 youngsters -- the nucleus of the 1963 team -- was considerable.
The 1960 link: The 1960 midshipmen were ranked fourth in the nation and played fifth-ranked Missouri in the Orange Bowl. Senior running back Bellino swept football's top awards, including the Heisman trophy and Maxwell Club award for the nation's top overall player, and Walter Camp award as top back. Lineman Frank Visted joined quarterback Hal Spooner and Bellino in the Senior Bowl game, a premier all-star game for the best players in the country. Only a few months later, following graduation with their Class of 1961, Visted, Spooner and Bellino remained at Annapolis as assistant coaches for the incoming class of 1965 plebes. As graduate-assistants under longtime plebe coach Dick Duden, they would help shape Navy's next nationally-ranked team and a second Heisman trophy winner. It was clear that these high achievers -- Bellino, Spooner and Visted -- set the tone for the new Navy players, including the newest varsity players from the class of 1964, who as plebes had cheered their upperclassmen on their way to national ranking.
The Class of '64: The strength of this group of athletes was a combination of toughness and speed. They were relentless. And like most Navy teams, they always worked harder than their opponents. Team leaders were three future Admirals: center and brigade heavyweight boxing champion, Tom Lynch, quiet and intelligent guard Alex Krekich, and savvy defensive back Bobby Sutton, a converted quarterback who was one of the leaders of Navy's defense. Quiet leadership was also demonstrated by athletic ends Jim Campbell and Dave Sjuggerud. Quick and acrobatic Johnny Sai provided offensive speed, and Joe Ince was a steadying influence at flanker. It should be noted that another key lineman, Tom Holden, was later killed in Viet Nam.
The Class of '65: While a talented group of athletes entered the Academy in 1961, entry year for the class of 1965, the initial success of their plebe season was only promising, not great. It was flawed by an early loss to the University of Maryland, and the eventual defection of mercurial plebe running back, Darryl Hill, to that same Maryland varsity. Highly acclaimed out of Washington, DC and the first African-American football player in Navy history, Hill went on the star for the Terrapins. With Hill and track sprinter Kip Paskewich, the 1961 plebes were explosive on offense, complimented by powerful Pat Donnelly and Pat Varriano as the tough inside runners. Even as a plebe, Staubach was clearly a premier quarterback, whose athleticism was reinforced by determination and an incredible work ethic.
The new plebes were smart, as exemplified by eventual Churchill scholar, fullback Pat Donnelly and rugged linebacker, placekicker and future varsity captain, Fred Marlin. They were confident, with center Bruce Kenton, and rangy tackles Jim Freeman and Pat Philbin anchoring the line. They had leaders, like Staubach, Marlin and a shifty, good-natured running back, Doug Katz, who later achieved the rank of Vice Admiral. Rugged and genial end Doug McCarty was later killed in an aircraft training accident shortly after graduation.
This class attracted tremendous athletes. Talented quarterbacks like Skip Orr and Geoff Groves moved to other positions rather than stay as reserves. Orr became Staubach's go-to receiver and Groves added depth and tactical strength as punter.
Possibly touched by destiny, in the summer of 1962 this squad would launch their varsity careers by shaking the hand of president John F. Kennedy during an unexpected drop-in by Kennedy and his staff during two-a-day football drills at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. They would enjoy a special link to president Kennedy during those Camelot years in the White House.
During their careers, the class of 1964 players won 21 games and lost 10; the 1965 players won 17 games, lost 13 and tied 1. But their combined 9-1 season was the legacy year. They played in a major bowl game for the national championship, and spawned one of the greatest athletes to ever play the game, at either college or professional levels. Staubach and Navy were featured on 1963 covers of Time Magazine and Sports Illustrated, and lauded for their explosive style in the cover articles. Nearly forty-five years later the National Football Foundation honored Staubach with their highest award, the Gold Medal, presented to seven U.S. Presidents, Jackie Robinson and only a handful of other prominent Americans.
As the team found during his injury-plagued senior season, when their record fell to 3 wins, 6 losses and 1 tie, Staubach was clearly the key and the catalyst. But at the highest level, winning teams need more than the nation's premier player. They also need surrounding players who are similarly tough, relentless and who absolutely refuse to lose. This is where the combined classes of 1964 and 1965 -- motivated by their nationally ranked predecessors from the class of 1961 -- bonded to create just the right blend for this championship season.
Coach Hugh McWilliams, The Staubach of His Era
After Staubach, Navy's legendary four-year, three-sport star, the second best athlete at Navy in the sixties may not have been an active player, but his backfield coach Hugh McWilliams. Coach McWilliams may have been the Roger Staubach of his own era, in the late forties. Those who played ball with him back then would likely agree.
There are surprising parallels between Staubach and McWilliams. Each was the best player on a powerhouse football team. Each lettered in three sports -- football, baseball and basketball -- for three years. Each man was respected by teammates, coaches and classmates, as a natural and humble leader. And each devoted four years of military service during difficult war years.
Hugh McWilliams passed away in December, 2005, remembered fondly by former players and colleagues. His career took him and his family to cities around the United States -- from Stockton to Palo Alto High School in California, to Annapolis, then on to Temple University in Pennsylvania. He died in California after a struggle with prostate cancer, near his family and remembered as a kind, thoughtful and unselfish man. To his past players he remained "Coach Mac". Flanker Skip Orr commented, "Coach Mac was a very special coach and person. Since most everyone on the team played two-ways, we did not spend the entire practice with one position coach but rotated during the course of practice. I looked forward to his offensive backfield station. It was always spirited, well prepared, and full of effective learning tools. He was a true gentleman who was personable and humble, and loved by his players."
When former players began to piece a tribute together for this quiet man, they discovered he was one of the greatest athletes of his time. You would never know it, because coach Mac never mentioned his own accomplishments. As a pitcher, McWilliams was once offered a big league contract with the old Philadelphia Athletics, but chose College of the Pacific instead, where he was their star pitcher and most valuable player. He also starred in basketball for three years, and earned national praise as a three-year center and linebacker in football. When College of Pacific's legendary football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg reflected on the best athletes he had ever coached, he described Hugh as the best of them all.
As they compiled background for the memorial at his old high school in Palo Alto, stories of McWilliams' leadership, his four-year, three-sport achievements and the universal respect for his way as a man emerged and then flowed from friends, teammates and colleagues around the country, including Staubach. He was a proud and principled man, a perfect fit for the Naval Academy. And his presence as a Navy coach helped mold two nationally ranked teams, as well as two future Heisman trophy winners and All-Americans: Bellino and Staubach.
As a fresh new season approaches, it seems fitting to acknowledge two of Navy's finest, who set the highest standards in their two eras, and who successfully collaborated in Navy's finest season.
Letter to the Editor:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the recent article by Mr. Don McPhail; The Right Blend: Navy's Storied '63 Season.
However, I must point out a very important historical correction. In his article Mr. McPhail credited Darryl Hill as the first African-American to play football at the Naval Academy. Mr Hill was not the first African-American to play football at Navy, my teammate in 1955 Mo Clark was. Hill was obviously a much better football player than Mo, but Mo played on our Plebe team, I don't recall how much he played but he was on the team. He only played Plebe year. There is a much bigger difference between Mo Clark and Darryl Hill, Mo graduated and went on to become a Navy pilot, he died about 10 years ago. Mo was a good man, a good friend and a good husband and father. I feel that I owe it to Mo to bring this to your attention.
A year or so ago a Baltimore reporter, Mr. Childs Walker wrote a brief article referring to Mr. Hill as the first African-American to play football at Navy, I corresponded with Mr. Walker at the time and I include below the historical correction that Mr. Walker published in the Baltimore Sun. Before the correction was printed, Mr. Walker informed Darryl Hill of this and as I recall Darryl Hill was very understanding.
I would like to quote the great Greek historian Herodotus .In his book The History of Herodotus" he wrote; " Very few things happen at the right time; and
the rest do not happen at all; the conscientious historian will correct these defects".
Sincerely, Tom Lukish, '59 Navy Football Player
Mids' silent groundbreaker - Missed in historical accounts, Clark was academy's 1st black player
By Childs Walker
childs.walker@baltsun.com
December 13, 2008
Maurice E. "Mo" Clark did not see himself as a pioneer. And apparently, neither did anyone who chronicled the history of football at the U.S. Naval Academy. Darryl Hill, a standout running back and receiver who went on to integrate Atlantic Coast Conference football for Maryland, had always been told by coaches and administrators that he was the academy's first black football player.
It was reported that way in dozens of articles and historical accounts.
But as it turns out, Hill, who debuted in 1961, was merely the first black Midshipman to play a down. Clark, a wide receiver from Brooklyn, N.Y., was on the roster of the 1955 plebe team. After reading a recent article about Hill, Clark's teammate, Tom Lukish, contacted the academy to correct the historical record.
"I had never heard of Maurice Clark," Navy sports information director Scott Strasemeier said.
Lukish wrote in an e-mail: "Mo was a good football player but not a great one. He played on our plebe team the entire season but, not thinking he was good enough to be a varsity football player and wanting to participate in other sports, he did not participate as a football player after our plebe year. I and all my teammates remember Mo as a good guy and we did not see him as integrating anything. We saw him as a teammate."
Lukish said Clark was also an excellent high jumper and heavyweight boxer and tried crew and basketball while at the academy. He graduated in 1959 and became an aviator. Clark went on to a successful business career in Philadelphia but died about 10 years ago. Lukish said Clark never saw himself as a groundbreaker and liked to joke with classmates about how poorly they were all treated as plebes. Hill remembered how little fuss was made about his arrival on campus as a black athlete. In that light, he was hardly surprised that no one remembered Clark's year in the program by the time he arrived six years later.
"The Navy," he said, "was so low-key about it."
Why Play Notre Dame?
In December 2006, Shipmate printed “Why Play Notre Dame?” and asked readers to send in their top reasons for playing Notre Dame. The responses ranged from enthusiastic support for the game and the tradition, to distaste for the seemingly bad habit. Some question the reasoning behind sending a team to lose 44 years in a row, and others celebrate the underdog spirit of competition. Regardless, the game brings national attention to two teams who share a commitment to athletics and to academics as the quintessential student athletes meet on field year after year.
Shipmate Readers Respond: Why Play Notre Dame? - November 2007 issue
Here are additional responses we've received since the article ran. Thanks for the feedback. Go Navy!
Shipmates:
I find it interesting that this question appears in the same issue with the article on the rehabilitation of Memorial Hall with David Lawrence's inspirational flag...brings to mind the words of a song in a 1930s film,
"Shipmates stand together,
Don't give up the ship!
Fair or stormy weather,
We won't give up, we won't give up the ship1
Shipmates stand together,
It's a long, long trip:
If you have to take a licking,
Carry on and quit your kicking.
Don't give up the ship!"
Our ship is not sinking: anyone who can recall the 1946 Army-Navy football game knows that Army had Blanchard and Davis and all the prog- nosticators on their side, but Navy had John D. (PT Boat) Bulkeley and the most fired up Brigade and team I have ever seen. The final score was 21-18 Army, with the ball in Navy possession on Army's 3-yard line, so who went home more proud that day?!
Of course we should play Notre Dame, for all of the reasons you note!
BEAT ARMY! -- BEAT EVERYBODY!
Walt Spangenberg, '48
Reference your Shipmate article "Why Play Notre Dame?", I recognize the primarily monetary reasons for playing ND in football every year. But there is something terribly wrong, maybe immoral, about getting defeated by the same team every year for the last 43 years! It's embarrassing! Notre Dame is at one level of football, Navy another. Do we play ND every year to re-convince ourselves that we are not in their football class? And what about the morale of the USNA Brigade, players and alumni facing that beating every year? Please - let's drop Notre Dame and stay in our football level, where, by the way, we are doing just fine.
P.S. Don't let the coach jump to another team. He's been terrific! Do what it takes to keep him.
Robert Coleman, '51
You missed the obvious one - Navy should continue to play Notre Dame because this game is an example of what college athletics is all about. At the end of the game, as you look at each team standing side by side while their respective school bands are playing the alma maters, you know that 98% or so of the players from both teams will graduate.
In addition, many of the Navy Midshipmen will be called upon to lay their lives on the line for our country. While Notre Dame does not require its graduates to commit to service in the military, most graduates from that school do have a committment to their country through the social conscience which they develop.
I suggest that we stop the Navy/Notre Dame annual rivalry when the earth stops rotating.
Phil Russo, ND '80
I have my favorite reason to play Notre Dame:
YOU NEVER KNOW WHO YOU'LL MEET!
I never dreamed my husband, James Midkiff '90, would be one of the Midshipmen on the bus at the Notre Dame game in the fall of 1989. When I told my friends I was marrying the "Navy guy" I'd met at the game, they were stunned. We still celebrate our "other anniversary" watching the game each year, and my husband and I have a friendly rivalry going that day. I'm waiting for the game when HE will have the bragging rights for a year!
Lisa Midkiff
It represents the challenge to do the “nearly” impossible. But more importantly, part of the Naval Academy’s mission "to develop midshipmen morally, mentally and physically” by demonstrating that we (the Navy Family) do not take the easy way out. It would be all to easy to shy away from this challenge, but imagine where we would be today if our Navy shied away from impossible challenges it has faced during our history. No, we say and we fight, for all the right reasons.
Henry Aszklar
Sr. Vice President
Econergy International
I think you should generate another list of why Notre Dame should play Navy …
5. The international exposure we bring them.
4. The opportunity for Notre Dame players to see a march-on and fly over.
3. The opportunity for Notre Dame players to give advance thanks to the men and women who will be protecting their freedom in the years to come.
2. The opportunity for Notre Dame players and coaches to hear us sing "Navy Blue and Gold"
1. Because we allow them to.
David Sousa
Regional Business Manager
Interbake Foods LLC
In the December issue of the "Shipmate" on page 13, the question was asked "Why play Notre Dame?"
Please permit me to introduce myself and then forward an Email that relates to the subject. I graduated as Ensign in the NROTC unit at Notre Dame in 1945, and served on active duty in the Navy for 27 years (mostly in the submarine service) and retired as a Captain. As a young Lieutenant Commander, I taught Navigation at Luce Hall at the Naval Academy 1958-60. I am one of the few Associate Members of the USNA Alumni Association and always look forward to receiving my copy of "Shipmate".
Before the most recent Notre Dame-Navy game, I sent the below Email to many of my Navy and Notre Dame friends. I think the message and the attached picture explains a lot about the relationship between Notre Dame and the Navy. If it had not been for the Navy during World War II, there might not be a University of Notre Dame today.
If I receive a response to this Email, I will forward to you a second Email that I sent to the Notre Dame Alumni Office a couple of years ago, that explains the various Navy programs on the Notre Dame campus during World War II, such as V-12, Midshipmen School, and NROTC.
Robert E. Thomas, Captain, USN (Retired)
3712 Southernwood Way
San Diego, CA 92106
Past President of Notre Dame Alumni Class of 1945
Associate Member of Naval Academy Alumni Association
-------- Original Message --------
Subject:
NOTRE DAME VS NAVY
Date:
Thu, 26 Oct 2006 06:23:18 -0700
From:
Bob Thomas
This Saturday (October 28), the football teams of the Fighting Irish of the University of Notre Dame and the Midshipmen of the U. S. Naval Academy will meet in Baltimore to play their 80th game against each other.. The game will be aired on CBS starting at Noon (EDT).. This series started in 1927 and has been played every year without interruption. This is the longest consecutive series in college football.
Of the past 79 games, Notre Dame has won 69, Navy has won 9 and there has been one tie. Notre Dame has won the last 42 games. Why does this lop-sided series continue? The attached picture gives some insight into the answer. The picture was taken in April 1944. The first group of six rows is the Midshipman School (approx 1200). The second group of one row on the sidewalk is the NROTC unit (approx. 120). The third group of two rows (on the grass between the sidewalks) is the Marine V-12 unit (approx. 200). The fourth group (on the grass in the rear) is the Navy V-12 unit (approx. 700). In the background is the Knute Rockne Memorial building (built about 1938). These approximately 2200 men in the picture constituted about 80% of the "students" on campus.
The Navy and Notre Dame institutions have always had a deep respect for each other. At the conclusion of the 2005 game (played at Notre Dame, and won by Notre Dame 42-21), the entire Notre Dame football team and their coaches assembled in front of the Naval Academy contingent and stood at attention with their helmets over their hearts while the Naval Academy Midshipmen sang their alma mater ("Navy Blue & Gold"). This series is very special !
Since I graduated at Notre Dame, spent a long career in the Navy, and taught at the Naval Academy, I always watch this game with great mixed emotions.
GO NAVY !! GO IRISH !!
PS: On some computers, you might have to scroll back and forth and up and down a bit to see the entire picture.
Bob Thomas
Q: Why Navy should continue to play Notre Dame?
A: So we can keep singing our words to the Army fight song when Army sings it at football games!!!!!!
(To the tune of On Brave Old Army Team)
We don’t play Notre Dame,
We don’t play Tulane,
We just play Holy Cross,
‘Cause that’s the fearless Army way!
I love singing that song!!! And my WOOP friends hate it!
Actually, part of this is included in reason #2 you printed – Notre Dame’s president offered a game slot to Army WHO DECLINED IT, and Navy jumped at the opportunity. J
Go Navy!
Bill Stiles, ‘77
Army-Navy Sea Stories
by Buddy Wellborn '59
1955: Off the Field -At the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis in late November 1955, Navy midshipmen were holding their annual ritualistic "Army-Navy Pep Rally" on a wind-blown, salt-spray-striped, dredged land-field known as Farragut Field. The final highlighted event of the evening was duly to burn a straw-stuffed dummy of an Army mule hanging in effigy. Midshipmen, friends and parents of midshipmen, and Navy fans had gathered around telephone-pole tall bon-fires outlining the field to cheer "their" team. I was one of the 4000-some midshipmen on that field-- that night. It was a dark, cold night, and was getting colder as the night crept on. It must have been close to freezing, or at least a freezing wind-chill factor. Even in long underwear, wool-woven navy-blue uniforms and a matching "Reefer" coat with gloves, those of us from the south were cold to the bone. After some rather demure testimonials by some of our star players, who were required to be "cool," like Johnny Hopkins, Ron Beagle, and George Welsh, and of course our head coach, "The Eagle," Eddie Erdelatz, there were some rousing cheers of hurrah and some dutiful singing of spirited fight songs. As the duty torch was ignited "to light up" the mule, an eerie chant started among the dark-clad crowd-- "We want Army, We want Army...." The frenzied crowd-- THE MOB-- wanted the Army Officer who was on exchange duty from West Point to come to the fore. My, oh my, he was my-- MY-- company officer, CAPTAIN ALEXANDER MEIGS HAIG, JR. U.S. ARMY. From out of the crowd and around a 50-foot-high blazing bon-fire, he came to the platform-steps going up to the chilly, gallows-like stage. He took them two at a time, all 13 of them, yes, of course, there were 13. In accordance with tradition, he took off his cap and his blouse-- that is, his uniform coat replete with medals earned in the Korean War. The jeering was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think over the throb of your heart beating-- in your throat. Talk about swallow-- have you ever been to a lynching? In nothing but his T-shirt, he must have been freezing when he took the microphone from the head cheerleader. But then, with one fist pumping in the air and with heated spirit, he exhorted, "It's going to be one of the best games in the country-- I hope to see all of you there!" And, the crowd went wild-- CHEERING HIM. Everybody clapped as he re-donned his uniform shaking hands with the Navy players. He had it-- you know, that "it" in LEADERSHIP for which We, the People, are now in such dire need. Twenty years later, he was Commander-in-Chief/Europe as a four-star general and I was under his command again as commanding officer of THE ship steaming in Strimonikos Kolpos extracting nuclear weapons from Greece. There was a developing "situation" at the dark of the moon that early, early morning in the Kolpus, and in response to my report, he said to me, "You handle it as best you see fit-- I'll back you up." And, "...on other fields, on other days" that's the "It"-- in spades.
1957: On the Field - Mid-morning on a Saturday, November 30, 1957, in a dressing room for entertainers in the basement of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in downtown Philadelphia, Navy's football team was getting taped-- with adhesive tape, of course. The room smelled of adhesive and "tough-skin" (a benzoin and alcohol mixture). I looked at my teammate, and wondered how he could run being taped like that -- he was covered in it. He was our starting halfback, leading rusher, punt returner and place-kicker. He also was our team "Captain." He was Edwin Wilson "Ned" Oldham, N* USNA '58, the epitome of All-American "Guts and Go!" I gibed at him saying, "Hey, Ned, with all that tape, you ought to buy stock in Johnson&Johnson." You have to know how to manage dirt and hurt to be able to smile with your teeth clinched, and say, "Yea." It was all quiet on the bus riding out to the stadium. It was the last few minutes to get the butterflies together in one sock-- it was "Game Face" time. Over a 100,000 rain-soaked fans cheered as Army and Navy battled it out in the mud for the Lambert Trophy-- symbol of the NCAA's Eastern Football Champion. The advertising placard on the bus for National Bo beer summed it up for us-- "Wet, Cold and Delicious." It was NAVY 14 ARMY 0-- and we were on our way to Dallas and the Cotton Bowl. We not only had held Army's vaunted 300-yards-per-game rushing dynamic-duo of Anderson and Dawkins to 88 yards, but we had shut them out-- a first. This was our tenth game of the season and Harry Hurst, our right halfback had been the AP's Back of the Week for our victory over California, Tom Forrestal ourAll-American quarterback had been the AP's Back of the Week for our victory over Georgia, and I had been the AP's Back of the Week for our victory over Notre Dame-- in South Bend! Well, that day, a wet cold and delicious Saturday in Philadelphia, it was a defensive struggle of hit and be hit. Our All-American tackle and Maxwell Trophy winner, Bob Reifsnyder was rated somewhere between a low fantastic and high magnificent that day-- on both sides of the ball. Army only gained a total of 136 yards as Navy gained 237 yards. Ned Oldham gained 55 of those tough yards, scoring with a six-yard run on the option-pitch. You'd have to see the film to believe how many times he was hit, keeping his feet, not going down, and then he-- Johnson&Johnson and all-- exploded into the end zone. Then, for the hammer driving the final nail in the last quarter, Ned ran back a punt for 44 yards and the put-away score. Of course, he also kicked both PAT's. So, at the end of the day, it was OLDHAM 14 ARMY 0. Ned Oldham was unanimously voted AP's Back of the Week completing the cycle for Navy with all four backs. The train ride back to Baltimore/Annapolis that Sunday was, to say the least, a "memorable" junket, which is yet another story-- that we only tell among ourselves.
A Navy Sports "Sea Story"
Provided by Buddy Wellborn '59
Prelude
This is an Army-Navy story that should be published and should be archived in Army-Navy sports memorabilia for the record. This is a "reach-out-and-touch-somebody" happening that should stand as a testimonial for "America's Team" by a gallant few of America's "Silent Majority." They did this without fanfare or aplomb just to honor and say thanks to our cherished youth that have given so much of themselves for the rest of us. If the following excerpt doesn't get to you, then you don't have a pulse.
"The most poignant moment for the Levin's was when 11 Marines hugged them Goodbye, then sang them the Marine Hymn on the platform at Union Station. "One of the guys was blind, but he said, 'I can't see you, but man, you must be f---ing beautiful!' " says Bennett. "I got a lump so big in my throat, I couldn't even answer him."
God Bless America's Team,
Buddy Wellborn, N* USNA '59
Here's a 'today' Yule story that occurred 3 weeks ago ~ AND NOW, in time for the holidays, I bring you the best Christmas story you never heard.
It started last Christmas, when Bennett and Vivian Levin were overwhelmed by sadness while listening to radio reports of injured American troops. "We have to let them know we care," Vivian told Bennett. So they organized a trip to bring soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital to the annual Army-Navy football game in Philly, on Dec. 3.
The cool part is, they created their own train line to do it. Yes, there are people in this country who actually own real trains. Bennett Levin - native Philly guy, self-made millionaire and irascible former L&I commish - is one of them.
He has three luxury rail cars. Think mahogany paneling, plush seating and white-linen dining areas. He also has two locomotives, which he stores at his Juniata Park train yard. One car, the elegant Pennsylvania, carried John F. Kennedy to the Army-Navy game in 1961 and '62. Later, it carried his brother Bobby's body to D. C. for burial. "That's a lot of history for one car," says Bennett.
He and Vivian wanted to revive a tradition that endured from 1936 to 1975, during which trains carried Army-Navy spectators from around the country directly to the stadium where the annual game is played. The Levins could think of no better passengers to reinstate the ceremonial ride than the wounded men and women recovering at Walter Reed in D. C. and Bethesda, in Maryland. "We wanted to give them a first-class experience," says Bennett. "Gourmet meals on board, private transportation from the train to the stadium, perfect seats - real hero treatment."
Through the Army War College Foundation, of which he is a trustee, Bennett met with Walter Reed's commanding general, who loved the idea. But Bennett had some ground rules first, all designed to keep the focus on the troops alone: No press on the trip, lest the soldiers' day of pampering devolve into a media circus.
No politicians either, because, says Bennett, "I didn't want some idiot making this trip into a campaign photo op."
And no Pentagon suits on board, otherwise the soldiers would be too busy saluting superiors to relax.
The general agreed to the conditions, and Bennett realized he had a problem on his hands. "I had to actually make this thing happen," he laughs. Over the next months, he recruited owners of 15 other sumptuous rail cars from around the country - these people tend to know each other - into lending their vehicles for the day. The name of their temporary train? The Liberty Limited.
Amtrak volunteered to transport the cars to D. C. - where they'd be coupled together for the round-trip ride to Philly - then back to their owners later. Conrail offered to service the Liberty while it was in Philly. And SEPTA drivers would bus the disabled soldiers 200 yards from the train to Lincoln Financial Field, for the game.
A benefactor from the War College ponied up 100 seats to the game - on the 50-yard line - and lunch in a hospitality suite.
And corporate donors filled, for free and without asking for publicity, goodie bags for attendees:
From Woolrich, stadium blankets. From Wal-Mart, digital cameras. From Nikon, field glasses. From GEAR, down jackets.
There was booty not just for the soldiers, but for their guests, too, since each was allowed to bring a friend or family member.
The Marines, though, declined the offer. "They voted not to take guests with them, so they could take more Marines," says Levin, choking up at the memory. Bennett's an emotional guy, so he was worried about how he'd react to meeting the 88 troops and guests at D. C.'s Union Station, where the trip originated. Some GIs were missing limbs. Others were wheelchair-bound or accompanied by medical personnel for the day. "They made it easy to be with them," he says. "They were all smiles on the ride to Philly. Not an ounce of self-pity from any of them. They're so full of life and determination."
At the stadium, the troops reveled in the game, recalls Bennett. Not even Army's lopsided loss to Navy could deflate the group's rollicking mood. Afterward, it was back to the train and yet another gourmet meal - heroes get
hungry, says Levin - before returning to Walter Reed and Bethesda. "The day was spectacular," says Levin. "It was all about these kids. It was awesome to be part of it."
The most poignant moment for the Levins was when 11 Marines hugged them goodbye, then sang them the Marine Hymn on the platform at Union Station. "One of the guys was blind, but he said, 'I can't see you, but man, you must be f---ing beautiful!' " says Bennett. "I got a lump so big in my throat, I couldn't even answer him."
It's been three weeks, but the Levins and their guests are still feeling the day's love. "My Christmas came early," says Levin, who is Jewish and who loves the Christmas season. "I can't describe the feeling in the air." Maybe it was hope.
As one guest wrote in a thank-you note to Bennett and Vivian, "The fond memories generated last Saturday will sustain us all - whatever the future may bring."
God bless the Levins.
And bless the troops, every one.
'Send a Volley Cheer on High'...By Phone A Reminiscence for the Class of 1958
By John H. Galla '58, MD
Extended Article from the Original Version Placed in the November 2007 Shipmate.
As we contemplate the upcoming annual challenge for the Navy football team on the gridiron at South Bend this year, we, the class of 1958, reflect back to November 50 years ago. On November 2, 1957, under rainy skies in South Bend, Indiana, the mighty Navy juggernaut sent the previously unbeaten Fighting Irish down to defeat on their home turf for the first time and for the second year in a row.
Several weeks before the game, the Brigade was chafing under the realization that we unfortunately would be unable to attend or to view the game on television. We could only listen to the radio broadcast. These grumblings resonated in the Brigade Activities Committee, whose duty it is to whip frenzy for victory in the troops, but things looked grim.
Fate intervened. Barry Howard and Rich Roddey '59, were expressing this frustration to a fellow at the Public Works building, who casually mentioned that he knew that coaxial cable was available all over the country and possibly at Notre Dame stadium. Barry and Rich saw that this was an opportunity to bring sound to South Bend. They brought "The Idea" to one of our weekly brainstorming session: We need to have the team hear our cheers. So, the committee - JB Davis, Bill Diesing, Bob Doty, Goldie Goldstein, Howard, Denny Huff, Bob Mason, JC Miller, Willie Parks, Roddey, George Segelbacher, Al Thresher '59, me, and probably others whose names are in the mist - formed the collective generative force and began to secure the necessary support for the enterprise.
As the organic process of the "plan" took shape, the essence was as follows: Assemble the members of the Brigade to listen to the game together, organize and coordinate the cheering and transmit those cheers by phone line to field level at Notre Dame Stadium, and amplify the sound so our team could hear the Brigade. Obviously the scope of the plan would require the expertise of many: the cheerleaders lead by John Rohrbough and the Marconi squad at WRNV with Terry Magrath as point man. And then there was the problem of money to finance this enterprise.
Our ebullient and most supportive officer representative, Capt. Ralph Brown, USMC, honchoed the project through the Executive Department. He secured permission from Captain Abbott to proceed and fundraising from the Brigade began. John Rohrbough recalls that we only had relatively few days to pass the hat and baskets were placed at the entrances to the mess hall. The dollars and the coins poured in and quickly met our needs for two dedicated phone lines from Annapolis to Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. We needed one line for transmission of sound and another for two-way coordination. Job One was accomplished.
Next, there was the matter of transporting all the necessary gear such as amplifiers, speakers, and the appropriate connectors to South Bend. I had been in a bit of hot water with Capt. Abbott over some of my "miscommunications" so it was again Capt. Brown who arranged orders for several of us to go South Bend and cleared matters with the Notre Dame administration. Barry Howard — a Hoosier with connections — , Terry Magrath, myself, and — to my best recollection - one or two others from WRNV went to Baltimore on the bus and caught the train to Chicago on Friday evening. Well before sunrise on Saturday morning, the train stopped at a highway crossing somewhere amidst the cornfields south of South Bend. We were met by two cars that had been arranged by one of the members of the group and they drove us to Notre Dame Stadium.
By game time, we were set up in the southeast corner at about the 20-yard line and ready to roar. Barry Howard handled the liaison phone on the sidelines, I was in the press box, and the electronic wizards had their gear peaked.
Back in the Yard, Johnnie Rohrbough and his team of cheerleaders had organized everything at the new Field House. A football field in blue and gold crepe paper was laid out on the canvas-covered basketball court, the band played, refreshments were available, microphones to pick up the cheering were placed, loudspeakers were tuned to the game and the bleachers were packed with Mids and drags. Johnnie had even arranged a halftime show. The Brigade was and remained in its full and raucous voice.
Throughout the game, Barry Howard was able to see when to cheer and when to listen and transmitted this information to the cheerleaders throughout the game. As it progressed, Navy was rolling and the Irish fans were furious. With Navy driving toward the South goal for another touchdown sometime in the fourth quarter, Barry recalls the ND students attempted to storm the field in an effort to demolish our sound system but it was too late for ND. The mighty Navy team put Ray Wellborn into the end zone for the third time and carried the day, 20 — 6. Barry was the happy recipient of a crisp id="mce_marker"00 bill from an ecstatic Eddie Erdelatz as he and the football team and our intrepid sound squad exited the field. Rich Roddey relates that on the ND campus after the game, two Navy players in uniform were approached by a group of nuns who said, "We're glad you won because ND needed it, but where were your fans sitting? They were so loud!" The victory was particularly sweet for me as I happily lay my head down that night in Sorin Hall, my dad's — John J. Galla, ND '33 — old dorm. It also remains a perennial bragging rite as the father of John M. Galla, ND '88.
Although the Notre Dame administration apparently gave permission for us to be on the field with our sound equipment and informed the ND students of this (this was confirmed by a local ND '58 grad who had attended the game), I suspect that there were deep regrets for that decision. Indeed, rumor has it that, in aftermath of our enterprise, the NCAA introduced a new football rule: either rule 1, section 4, article 9(f) which states: "No one in the team area or coaching box may use any artificial sound amplification to communicate with the players on the field" or rule 9-2 b (5) "Persons subject to the rules including bands shall not create any noise that prohibits a team from hearing its signals." Whether our enterprise played any role in the institution of either of these rules or whether they even existed at the time, I am unaware, but, one thing is sure: On that day we were able to "...shake down the thunder from the sky!..."
Figures
1. Program cover for the 1957 Navy-Notre Dame football game. Compliments of Gerry Motl, USNA '68.
2. The Field house crew at Annapolis. 1st row - John Rohrbough '58, Ted Wu '59, Chuck Crigler '60; 2nd row — JD Hocker '58, Wayne Haley '59, Frank Snell '61, Joe Marshall '61, Dave Kalb '60 (L to R)
Compliments of J.D. Hocker '58 and Fred Victor '58.
3. Harry Hurst '58 sweeping left. From the 1958 Lucky Bag (not shown).
4. Roland Brandquist '59 sweeping right. From the 1958 Lucky Bag (not shown).
Note: All individuals depicted and who can be identified can be contacted through the USNA Alumni Association