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http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/24/memorial-day-nfl-veterans-tom-brady-deflategate/
Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
Monday Morning Quarterback
Sun May. 24, 2015
Memorial Day and Football
The NFL and veterans have been intertwined since World War II. Here's our own moment of remembrance, plus notes on Tom Brady's next steps, another lawsuit pitting ex-players against the league and much more from our guest columnist
By Greg A. Bedard
Editor’s Note: Peter King is off this week, in California for his youngest daughter’s wedding. He’ll return to the column next Monday.
While you prepare/recover from your Memorial Day activities, and before we get into the “serious” business of covering professional football, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to remember why we have this great holiday. I don’t want to beat anybody over the head with it; I just think it’s important.
A little history lesson (I certainly needed a refresher):
• In 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, Decoration Day was established for the country to decorate the graves of the soldiers who died in war. The original May 30 date was chosen, it is believed, because flowers would be in bloom across the entire nation.
• After World War I, the day was expanded to honor those who had died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress and placed on the last Monday in May.
• At 3 p.m., all Americans are encouraged to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time for the National Moment of Remembrance: a minute of silence to honor and remember those who died in service to the nation.
* * *
One more thing. Since this is a pro football column and it’s Memorial Day, we should remember the 26 former NFL players, coaches and team personnel killed in World War II, Vietnam and the War In Afghanistan. Thanks to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for this list:
(To see the list click the link and scroll down)
* * *
If you would like something to read this Memorial Day, let me suggest this Sports Illustrated article by William Nack: “A Name On the Wall.” It’s the beautifully written story of Kalsu, who was long thought to be the only NFL casualty from Vietnam (it was later learned that Steinbrunner, who had his career cut short by a knee injury after just eight games with the Browns in 1953, was killed as well.
Nack’s article was originally published July 23, 2001, less than two months before the Sept. 11 attacks that prompted Tillman to give up his football career—and turn down a big contract—and join the Army Rangers for the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tillman was the first NFL casualty since Vietnam.
Kalsu, who played for coach Chuck Fairbanks at Oklahoma, was named the Bills’ rookie of the year after he rose to starter on the offensive line. While most draftable athletes served in the reserves, Kalsu refused. “I’m not better than anyone else,” he told family and friends.
Bob Kalsu (Photo courtesy of Jan Kalsu-McLauchlin)
From the article:
That September, after nearly eight months at Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla., Kalsu went home one day looking shaken. His uniform was soaked with sweat. “I have orders to go to Vietnam,” he told Jan.
They spent his last weeks in the country at her parents’ house, with Jan in growing turmoil over the prospect of losing him. They were in the laundry room washing clothes when she spoke her worst fear. “What if you die over there?” she asked. “What am I to do?”
“I want you to go on with your life,” he said. “I want you to marry again.”
She broke down. “I don’t want to marry again,” she said. “I couldn’t.”
“Jan, I promise you, it’ll be all right.”
They had been married in the St. James Catholic Church in Oklahoma City, and a few weeks before he left, they went there together. Jan knelt before the altar. “If you need him more than I do,” she prayed silently, “please give me a son to carry on his name.”
Bob was gone before Thanksgiving. In one of her first letters to him, Jan gave Bob the good news: She was pregnant again.
….
At 12:45 a.m. on July 23, at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City, Jan Kalsu gave birth to an eight-pound, 15 1/2-ounce boy, Robert Todd Kalsu. When Leah Kalsu visited her that morning, Jan fairly shouted, “Bob is going to jump off that mountain when he finds he has a boy!”
That afternoon, as the clan gathered in the Darrow house to head for a celebration at the hospital, there was a knock at the front door. Sandy Szilagyi, one of Jan’s sisters, opened it, thinking the visitor might be a florist. She saw a uniformed Army lieutenant. “Is Mrs. James Robert Kalsu home?” he asked.
Sandy knew right then. “She’s at St. Anthony Hospital,” she said. “She’s just given birth to a baby.”
The young lieutenant went pale. Turning, he walked away. Sandy called Philip Maguire, the doctor who had delivered the baby, and told him who was coming. At the hospital, the lieutenant stepped into Maguire’s office and sat down. He was shaking. “Do you think she’ll be able to handle this?” he asked. “I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure I can do this.”
Maguire led the officer to Jan’s room, slipped into a chair and put his arm around her. “Jan, there’s a man from the Army here to see you,” he said.
“Bob’s been killed, hasn’t he?” she said.
The officer came in and stood at the foot of the bed. He could barely speak. “It is my duty…” he began. When he finished, he turned and left in tears.
Jan asked to leave the hospital immediately with her baby. She did one thing before she left. She asked for a new birth certificate. She renamed the boy James Robert Kalsu Jr.
The funeral, a week later at Czech National Cemetery, brought people from all around the country, and the gravesite service was more anguished than anything Byron Bigby, Kalsu’s old Sooners teammate, had ever seen. “I looked around,” he says, “and there was not a dry eye. We walked out of there biting our lips.”
Barry Switzer, who had been a young assistant under Fairbanks during the ’67 season, was walking to his car when he turned and looked back. What he saw haunts him still. “Bob’s daddy got his wife and Jan back to the car,” Switzer says. “After everyone was gone from the gravesite, he went back and lay down on the casket.”
**************************************
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/24/memorial-day-nfl-veterans-tom-brady-deflategate/
Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images
Monday Morning Quarterback
Sun May. 24, 2015
Memorial Day and Football
The NFL and veterans have been intertwined since World War II. Here's our own moment of remembrance, plus notes on Tom Brady's next steps, another lawsuit pitting ex-players against the league and much more from our guest columnist
By Greg A. Bedard
Editor’s Note: Peter King is off this week, in California for his youngest daughter’s wedding. He’ll return to the column next Monday.
While you prepare/recover from your Memorial Day activities, and before we get into the “serious” business of covering professional football, I wanted to take a couple of minutes to remember why we have this great holiday. I don’t want to beat anybody over the head with it; I just think it’s important.
A little history lesson (I certainly needed a refresher):
• In 1868, three years after the end of the Civil War, Decoration Day was established for the country to decorate the graves of the soldiers who died in war. The original May 30 date was chosen, it is believed, because flowers would be in bloom across the entire nation.
• After World War I, the day was expanded to honor those who had died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress and placed on the last Monday in May.
• At 3 p.m., all Americans are encouraged to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time for the National Moment of Remembrance: a minute of silence to honor and remember those who died in service to the nation.
* * *
One more thing. Since this is a pro football column and it’s Memorial Day, we should remember the 26 former NFL players, coaches and team personnel killed in World War II, Vietnam and the War In Afghanistan. Thanks to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for this list:
(To see the list click the link and scroll down)
* * *
If you would like something to read this Memorial Day, let me suggest this Sports Illustrated article by William Nack: “A Name On the Wall.” It’s the beautifully written story of Kalsu, who was long thought to be the only NFL casualty from Vietnam (it was later learned that Steinbrunner, who had his career cut short by a knee injury after just eight games with the Browns in 1953, was killed as well.
Nack’s article was originally published July 23, 2001, less than two months before the Sept. 11 attacks that prompted Tillman to give up his football career—and turn down a big contract—and join the Army Rangers for the War on Terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tillman was the first NFL casualty since Vietnam.
Kalsu, who played for coach Chuck Fairbanks at Oklahoma, was named the Bills’ rookie of the year after he rose to starter on the offensive line. While most draftable athletes served in the reserves, Kalsu refused. “I’m not better than anyone else,” he told family and friends.
Bob Kalsu (Photo courtesy of Jan Kalsu-McLauchlin)
From the article:
That September, after nearly eight months at Fort Sill in Lawton, Okla., Kalsu went home one day looking shaken. His uniform was soaked with sweat. “I have orders to go to Vietnam,” he told Jan.
They spent his last weeks in the country at her parents’ house, with Jan in growing turmoil over the prospect of losing him. They were in the laundry room washing clothes when she spoke her worst fear. “What if you die over there?” she asked. “What am I to do?”
“I want you to go on with your life,” he said. “I want you to marry again.”
She broke down. “I don’t want to marry again,” she said. “I couldn’t.”
“Jan, I promise you, it’ll be all right.”
They had been married in the St. James Catholic Church in Oklahoma City, and a few weeks before he left, they went there together. Jan knelt before the altar. “If you need him more than I do,” she prayed silently, “please give me a son to carry on his name.”
Bob was gone before Thanksgiving. In one of her first letters to him, Jan gave Bob the good news: She was pregnant again.
….
At 12:45 a.m. on July 23, at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City, Jan Kalsu gave birth to an eight-pound, 15 1/2-ounce boy, Robert Todd Kalsu. When Leah Kalsu visited her that morning, Jan fairly shouted, “Bob is going to jump off that mountain when he finds he has a boy!”
That afternoon, as the clan gathered in the Darrow house to head for a celebration at the hospital, there was a knock at the front door. Sandy Szilagyi, one of Jan’s sisters, opened it, thinking the visitor might be a florist. She saw a uniformed Army lieutenant. “Is Mrs. James Robert Kalsu home?” he asked.
Sandy knew right then. “She’s at St. Anthony Hospital,” she said. “She’s just given birth to a baby.”
The young lieutenant went pale. Turning, he walked away. Sandy called Philip Maguire, the doctor who had delivered the baby, and told him who was coming. At the hospital, the lieutenant stepped into Maguire’s office and sat down. He was shaking. “Do you think she’ll be able to handle this?” he asked. “I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure I can do this.”
Maguire led the officer to Jan’s room, slipped into a chair and put his arm around her. “Jan, there’s a man from the Army here to see you,” he said.
“Bob’s been killed, hasn’t he?” she said.
The officer came in and stood at the foot of the bed. He could barely speak. “It is my duty…” he began. When he finished, he turned and left in tears.
Jan asked to leave the hospital immediately with her baby. She did one thing before she left. She asked for a new birth certificate. She renamed the boy James Robert Kalsu Jr.
The funeral, a week later at Czech National Cemetery, brought people from all around the country, and the gravesite service was more anguished than anything Byron Bigby, Kalsu’s old Sooners teammate, had ever seen. “I looked around,” he says, “and there was not a dry eye. We walked out of there biting our lips.”
Barry Switzer, who had been a young assistant under Fairbanks during the ’67 season, was walking to his car when he turned and looked back. What he saw haunts him still. “Bob’s daddy got his wife and Jan back to the car,” Switzer says. “After everyone was gone from the gravesite, he went back and lay down on the casket.”
