Former NFL player killed in Vietnam honored by 101st Airborne

KOTV Channel 6 / NE Oklahoma ^ | 8-2-2002 | AP

[OKSooner]

You heard it here first?

[Non-Sequitur]

Did you ever read the article on Kalsu that was in Sports Illustrated last year? They just don't come any better than him.

[LibWhacker]

[leadpenny]

James Robert Kalsu from the virtual wall.

Maybe someone could post the page. I only know how to do the < a href > thing.

[robowombat]

Buddy Thomas
senior sports editor/columnist

bthomas@s-t.com



Bob Kalsu never reached All-Pro status in the National Football League.
Probably because he didn't play long enough.
But the big lineman from the University of Oklahoma was voted the team's top rookie in his first and only season with the Buffalo Bills.

That was back in 1968 when the American Football League was on the threshold of a merger with the rival NFL, and the 1-12-1 Bills were hoping to re-discover the glory days of mid-decade.
I was two years removed from Vietnam at the time and still trying to re-adjust to civilian life. Part of that re-adjustment centered around watching professional football, trying to convince myself that the AFL was not just a cheap imitation of the real thing (NFL).
A year later I finally became convinced when the Jets beat my beloved Colts in Super Bowl III.
But I had never even heard of Bob Kalsu until sometime last week, when I saw his story on television.
I can't remember the exact night it was shown. It was mid- to late-week, I think. But I do know it was on the early version of ESPN's Sportscenter.
It probably was meant to be a filler piece. You know, one of those five-minute mini-features that help fill the hour-long time slot when off-nights, Mother Nature or a combination of both leave the scoreboard virtually empty.
What it became was, quite simply, the most heart-rendering piece I've ever seen.
It was a story of life, love and devotion interrupted by an untimely death.
Bob Kalsu played the lead role.
On July 21, 1970, the Bills' lineman became the only professional football player to be killed in Vietnam. Details of his death came from the lips of a teary-eyed former soldier who saw Lieutenant Kalsu fall while helping defend something called Ripcord Base on an isolated jungle mountaintop near the Ashau Valley.
All through his high school and college days, football was a big part of Kalsu's life. So was the ROTC -- Reserved Officers Training Corp. But the biggest part of Kalsu's life was his sweetheart, Jan, who he married the day after his final college game in the Orange Bowl.
The Bills selected him in the eighth round of the '68 college draft -- after such not-so-notables as Pete Richardson, a defensive back from Dayton, running back Max Anderson of Arizona State and Mike McBath, a defensive end from Penn State. With the exception of first-round selection Haven Moses of San Diego State, the Buffalo draft list read like a roll call from the Society of Unknown Nobodies.
But Kalsu quickly became somebody in his first AFL season by earning the team's Rookie of the Year award with his stellar play at guard.
Sadly it would be his final season of football.
His wife had recently given birth to a daughter, Jill, and the future appeared bright. But following the '68 season, Kalsu began fulfilling his ROTC obligation with the United States Army and in November 1969, he received his orders to go to Vietnam.
He probably could have used politics to remain at home, but Kalsu said no.
After six months in Vietnam, 1st Lieutenant Bob Kalsu left his 11th Artillery unit of the 101st Airborne Division for a week of R&R in Hawaii.
There he was reunited with Jan, who was now pregnant with their second child.
Most of this information was recorded in newspaper articles -- articles I never knew existed before watching last week's riveting television piece.
But while the written words put a lump in my throat, the spoken words induced tears that flowed freely from my eyes.
I sobbed when Jan told of the day she received word of her husband's death as she lay in her hospital bed after giving birth to her son, Bob Jr.
I sniffled when the young Bob revealed he had heard his father's voice asking him to have the first dance with his sister on her wedding day.
And I cried when Bob Jr. relayed how he saw his father sitting and smiling as he and Jill moved gracefully about the dance floor.
But when all was said and done, I probably felt worse about myself for never having known Bob Kalsu had even existed.
Buddy Thomas' column appears on Thursday in The Standard-Times.

[LibWhacker]

From Kalsu's memorial homepage

Kalsu's story touching and tragic.
Buddy Thomas
Senior sports editor/columnist
The Standard Times , New Bedford, Massachusetts
used with permission
Bob Kalsu never reached All-Pro status in the National
Football League.

Probably because he didn't play long enough.

But the big lineman from the University of Oklahoma was voted the team's top rookie in his first and only season with the Buffalo Bills.

That was back in 1968 when the American Football League was on the threshold of a merger with the rival NFL, and the 1-12-1 Bills were hoping to re-discover the glory days of mid-decade.

I was two years removed from Vietnam at the time and still trying to re-adjust to civilian life. Part of that re-adjustment centered around watching professional football, trying to convince myself that the AFL was not just a cheap imitation of the real thing (NFL).

A year later I finally became convinced when the Jets beat my beloved Colts in Super Bowl III.

But I had never even heard of Bob Kalsu until sometime last week, when I saw his story on television.

I can't remember the exact night it was shown. It was mid- to late-week, I think. But I do know it was on the early version of ESPN's Sportscenter.

It probably was meant to be a filler piece. You know, one of those five-minute mini-features that help fill the hour-long time slot when off-nights, Mother Nature or a combination of both leave the scoreboard virtually empty.

What it became was, quite simply, the most heart-rendering piece I've ever seen.

It was a story of life, love and devotion interrupted by an untimely death.

Bob Kalsu played the lead role.

On July 21, 1970, the Bills' lineman became the only professional football player to be killed in Vietnam. Details of his death came from the lips of a teary-eyed former soldier who saw Lieutenant Kalsu fall while helping defend something called Ripcord Base on an isolated jungle mountaintop near the Ashau Valley.

All through his high school and college days, football was a big part of Kalsu's life. So was the ROTC -- Reserve Officers Training Corps. But the biggest part of Kalsu's life was his sweetheart, Jan, who he married the day after his final college game in the Orange Bowl.

The Bills selected him in the eighth round of the '68 college draft -- after such not-so-notables as Pete Richardson, a defensive back from Dayton, running back Max Anderson of Arizona State and Mike McBath, a defensive end from Penn State. With the exception of first-round selection Haven Moses of San Diego State, the Buffalo draft list read like a roll call from the Society of Unknown Nobodies.

But Kalsu quickly became somebody in his first AFL season by earning the team's Rookie of the Year award with his stellar play at guard.

Sadly it would be his final season of football.

His wife had recently given birth to a daughter, Jill, and the future appeared bright. But following the '68 season, Kalsu began fulfilling his ROTC obligation with the United States Army and in November 1969, he received his orders to go to Vietnam.

He probably could have used politics to remain at home, but Kalsu said no.

After six months in Vietnam, 1st Lieutenant Bob Kalsu left his 11th Artillery unit of the 101st Airborne Division for a week of R&R in Hawaii.

There he was reunited with Jan, who was now pregnant with their second child.

Most of this information was recorded in newspaper articles -- articles I never knew existed before watching last week's riveting television piece.

But while the written words put a lump in my throat, the spoken words induced tears that flowed freely from my eyes.

I sobbed when Jan told of the day she received word of her husband's death as she lay in her hospital bed after giving birth to her son, Bob Jr.

I sniffled when the young Bob revealed he had heard his father's voice asking him to have the first dance with his sister on her wedding day.

And I cried when Bob Jr. relayed how he saw his father sitting and smiling as he and Jill moved gracefully about the dance floor.

But when all was said and done, I probably felt worse about myself for never having known Bob Kalsu had even existed.

[Blue Screen of Death]

He was killed by North Vietnamese mortar fire in 1970 when he was 25.

So long ago. So very long ago. He would be my age now. Thinking about different RV's and reading glasses. Enjoying the revenge of grandchildren. Having trouble remembering the names of guys you knew you would never forget. I am sorry. I am so very sorry.

[robowombat]

This is a copy of a page touting Nolan's latest book (it is good) on the doleful tale of the operations around FSB Ripcord> One of the fallen in this grinding battle was Rob Kalsu.





Keith Nolan's research, his comprehension of the political as well as the military actions, his careful concern for those who were there, and, most of all, his writing, are superb. Indeed, I've never read a better account of a battle, and I've never been prouder of the American fighting man, nor more scornful of his political and high ranking military leaders. To those who want to know what it was like to be a grunt in Vietnam, I recommend Ripcord without stint or reservation.-Stephen E. Ambrose

A compelling book, and ultimately an edifying one which illustrates the valor of the American fighting solider during the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam.-Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore, USA (Ret.), author of We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young.

Keith W. Nolan is acknowledged as the foremost chronicler of the Vietnam War. He is the author of nine other Vietnam War combat histories, most recently the co-author of A Hundred Miles of Bad Road. Nolan lives with his wife and daughter near St. Louis, Missouri.

---

Note: The links below under "Battle History," are not Keith Nolan's book about Fire Base Ripcord. They represent my on-going effort to post the key detail and chronology of important events and persons involved in the battle. I and members of the Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord Association encourage you to get a copy of Keith's excellent work. Published by Presidio Press in 2000, the ISBN is: 0-89141-642-0. E-mail me if you would like to receive the Association's periodical, Ripcord Report.-Chuck Hawkins, Editor

---

Ripcord Reunion '02
Colorado Springs, Colorado, October 17-20, 2002

In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watched and heard thee murmur tales of iron wars. —Shakespeare

---

BATTLE HISTORY (Note: Only the first three history links are completed as of August 7, 2001.)

The Beginnings, March 11-July 1, 1970
In spring 1970, the 101st Airborne Division mounted a series of combat assaults into the mountains and triple canopy rain forest of western Thua Thien province. The deeper we pushed, the harder the North Vietnamese pushed back.

Hill 902, July 1-2
The siege begins the morning of July 1, and a key position is attacked by enemy sappers in the dead of night.

Hill 1000, July 6-8
Tension and casualties mount as vicious attacks against this dominant terrain feature are hurled back by the enemy.

Increasing the Pressure, Hill 805
"There aren't enough bullets and grenades in my rucksack to kill the enemy I'd like to see dead in a day."-Capt. Chuck Hawkins, A/2-506, in a letter home dated July 4, 1970.

Hill 1000 Redux
The Geronimo battalion fights its way up the back side of Hill 1000.

Blood Valley
With Hill 805 under repeated enemy attack, A/2-506 moves into the valley to the south of this key terrain to root out the enemy. Too little, too late, D/2-501 is finally withdrawn from Hill 805 after being bled white.

The 'Chinook' July 18
What the enemy could not accomplish with mortars and rockets is achieved by a 1/2-inch bullet from a heavy machine gun.

Trapped!
Thrown into the fight late, D/1-506 finds itself surrounded and outnumbered east of Hill 805.

Wire Tap
A/2-506 scores the biggest intelligence coup of the battle. But what good will it do?

Slaughter Pit, July 22
"We owned that damn valley."-Sp4 Jody Smith, A/2-506. But no longer.

Rescue and Withdrawal
"Don't worry, sir, we'll get out of this shit."-Sgt. John Penfold in a radio transmission to Brig. Gen. Sid Berry, July 23, 1970.

Aftermath
"We were dealt a bad hand, and we played it the best we could."-Capt. Gabe Rollison, D/2-506.



Units Involved in the Battle
This listing is incomplete, but illustrative. As the battle became more intense, more units of the division were sent into the "maw of the beast."

The Enemy
K-12 Sapper Battalion, 6th Independent Regiment, F5 Composite Division, Other

Casualties
Remember them. They did not shirk their duty nor stain their sacred honor.

Medal of Honor
Awarded posthumously to Lt. Col. Andre C. Lucas.

Memories
War stories 'n stuff.

---

Last modified on Tuesday, August 7, 2001

[Random Access]

He was killed by North Vietnamese mortar fire in 1970 when he was 25.

So long ago. So very long ago. He would be my age now. Thinking about different RV's and reading glasses. Enjoying the revenge of grandchildren. Having trouble remembering the names of guys you knew you would never forget. I am sorry. I am so very sorry.

What a beautiful post.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

[anymouse]

Ping for another fallen hero.

[willyone]

I have those same thoughts from time to time. Meanwhile scum like Tom Hayden enjoy the good life.

[DeaconBenjamin]

There's a place for them. Hebrews 9:27.

[vetvetdoug]

Bob Kalsu played in the Oil Bowl between his last year of high school and his first year of college. That same Oil Bowl had another player from Texas named Mickey Maroney. Mickey Maroney was killed in the OKC Bombing. The people of Wichita Falls remember both Kalsu and Maroney and have honored them both.

[VOA]

Thanks for the ping.
Nice to see Kalsu get honored...wonder if OU itself will end up more in terms
of an "in memoriam".

[VOA]

SMEDLEYBUTLER,
Thanks for posting the cover SI with Kalsu's article.
I grew up in Oklahoma, loved Sooner football (even if it was clear that
Barry Switzer was indeed a "boolegger's son")...but felt ashamed that I couldn't recall Kalsu
as a member of the Sooner football pantheon.

[OKSooner]

That's a good question. I'd like to see it.

[WellsFargo94]

Fort Sill Oklahoma had dedicated a barracks dayroom to First Lieutenant James Robert Kalsu in the spring of 2002. The Brigade Colonel at the time of the dedication saw fit to honor this fallen hero with a respectful ceremony that included his wife and grown children. It was a moving moment that touched every one in attendance.

My heart goes out to this fine family and their husband, father, hero. That my friends is a story that should be honored with grace and humility - just like Lt. Kalsu.

May God rest his soul and bless his family with peace, understanding, and love.

[WellsFargo94]

He was killed by North Vietnamese mortar fire in 1970 when he was 25.

So long ago. So very long ago. He would be my age now. Thinking about different RV's and reading glasses. Enjoying the revenge of grandchildren. Having trouble remembering the names of guys you knew you would never forget. I am sorry. I am so very sorry.

What a beautiful post.

My thoughts exactly, thank you Blue Screen for your honest raw emotions.