Army Navy - Echoes of Pride in Philadelphia

“I want an officer for a...dangerous mission. I want a West Point football player.” (General George C. Marshall, U.S. Army, 1942).

Twenty five years after Marshall said it, those words echoed back into the mind of Major Donald Holleder. The helicopter he was riding in suddenly had given him an unwanted birdseye view of a horrifying scene down below. In October of 1967, in a field near Ong Thanh, Viet Nam, two U.S. Army rifle companies were being ambushed by North Vietnamese regulars. Outnumbered four to one, his comrades were sitting ducks.

“Get me down. Get me down now !!” Holleder screamed at his commanding officer. Author David Maraniss would later describe him as an “untamed mustang.” When finally given permission to land, he burst out of the chopper, grabbed a .45 pistol and began running hell-bent across an open field toward the bloody jungle.

He motioned for the few soldiers who had landed with him to follow. He looked back over his shoulder and watched as the guys immediately fell in formation behind him and ran toward the enemy.

Although Major Holleder rarely talked about his days as a West Point football player, he couldn’t help but flashback to it now. He had the same feeling he had eleven years ago, when as the All American captain of the Army football team, he had also looked back over his shoulder. On that day, he saw his team mates follow him onto Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium field against a heavily favored Navy team.

Although the stakes were vastly different, he felt the same pride now that he did then. That memory gave him a moment of peace and confidence. Just then, a single sniper bullet cracked the sky, shattered the moment, and echoed across the field.

Read the rest of the story and see the photos at http://www.theprideofphiladelphia.com/onceuponatime/armynavy.html