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Great article. Not to minimize the sacrifice of this heroic Army Ranger, but...

But someone ought to remember First Lieutenant James Robert Kalsu (Bob Kalsu), the standout Buffalo Bill from Oklahoma City, graduated from University of Oklahoma. He died in Vietnam on 21 July 1970, a 25-year-old father of two. Actually, his wife gave birth to his son and namesake a day or two after he perished; he already had a daughter. He began his service in the Army as part of an ROTC obligation from which he probably could have been released. It would not be an understatement to say that thanks to John F. Kerry, Kalsu died in vain and has been forgotten.

Don Steinbrunner, a tackle on the Cleveland Browns team that lost the 1953 title game, played as an offensive lineman from 1954 to 1957. He then traded his football stardom for an Air Force career. For several years, he served as an assistant football coach at the Air Force Academy, contributing signficantly to the 1963 defeat of the otherwise undefeated Nebraska Cornhuskers. He later went to Vietnam voluntarily and without hesitation. Enemies in Vietnam shot down his plane on 10 July 1967; he did not survive. He is survived by his wife and children.

Nineteen professional football players (of 638 who served) died in the Second World War. Jack Lummus (New York Giants) received a Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously.

Roger Staubach (Dallas) and Rocky Bleier (Pittsburgh) also served in Veitnam.
Chad Hennings (Dallas) served in the liberation of Kuwait.
Mike Anderson (Denver, now Kansas City) served in Somalia and Kenya.
John Milem (San Francisco) was a Marine.