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GAME FACTS^j
THE EVENT: The 108th annual Army-Navy game at
M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. CBS will begin its
broadcast at noon ET on Saturday, Dec. 1.
RECORDS: Navy leads with 51 wins to Army's 49.
There have been seven ties.
BEGINNINGS: The first game was played in 1890,
with Navy winning 24-0.
RECENT TRENDS: Navy has won five in a row and
eight of the last 10, including last year's 26-14 win.
STADIUMS PLAYED: At first, the game’s venue
alternated between the academies. Since then, it
has been played most frequently in Philadelphia,
including last year at Lincoln Financial Field. It
also has been played at Giants Stadium in East
Rutherford, NJ.; Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia;
the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.; Soldier Field in
Chicago; as well as the Polo Grounds and Yankee
Stadium in New York.
A \ I
'
Presidents like Truman take part in the tradition.
★ A Legacy of Service ★
Michael J. Soth and I were high school classmates at
Pomona Catholic in California. We were friendly ri
vals, and he ended up at West Point, and I went to the
Naval Academy. We corresponded the entire time.
There’s a tradition that first-year plebes at both acade
mies exchange cuff links during the game weekend, so
we did that After graduation, I served on a submarine
in the waters off Vietnam. Mike learned Vietnamese
and served as an adviser to the South Vietnam army.
We continued to correspond. One time, he wrote about
the strong quality of Vietnamese men he worked with.
him to know about the uncle he never met. I still wear
his cuff link, along with mine.
J.W. "Bill" Sheehan
Waterford, Conn.
Navy Class of 1963
8
USA WEEKEND • Nov. 23-25,2007
Shortly after writing, he was
killed in action.
I stayed in touch with his
family. His twin brother, Mar
ty, had a son and named him
Michael. When Michael gradu
ated from high school, I sent
him that last letter. I wanted
ARM Y/vs/NAVY
Continued from previous page
★ Brothers in Arms ★
In 1974,1 was a rail-thin plebe from
rural Florida, the grandson of
a sharecropper and honored j
to be entering West Point.
I wasn’t the least bit in
timidated. I felt em- a
powered. I was the
product and dream
of millions of other V
African-Americans H
who didn't have the «
chance to do what I *
was doing and attend a
service academy. I stood
on their shoulders, fueled by
their pride and courage.
This w’as especially true when it
came time to perform our walk-on I
during the Army-Navy game that
year, my first ever. As we finished
and left the field, we got close to the
plebes from Annapolis who were also
on the field and attempted to out
cheer them. Our side got louder. Then
their side got louder. Suddenly, the
crowds spilled into each other and
an impromptu mass wrestling match took hold.
Grown-ups tried to break it up, so we sprinted away
to the sides of the field to avoid what would certainly
if Never Out of Uniform ★
When we were seniors, my classmate and I
stayed at my mom’s house near Philadelphia and
then visited my uncle just
before the game. After we
left, my uncle discovered
that my friend had left his
black leather gloves behind.
The gloves were part of the
uniform, and you could not
be seen without them.
My uncle raced to the sta
dium. When he found my
friend outside the stadium, getting ready in for
mation to march inside, he gave him the gloves.
But not before observing my friend’s “backup”
plan: He was wearing black socks on his hands
instead of on his feet! He had figured that no one
would ever notice.
John Reed
Alamo, Calif.
Army Class of 1968
4
■ i W y ||
I was the product
and dream
of millions of other
African-Americans.
I .. I "
Gloves were
part of the
uniform;
you could not
be seen
■
be a stiff punishment Before I ran away
in a sea of Army gray, I locked eyes
with the Annapolis plebe who I
w’as wrestling with. We ran
. toward each other and em-
L braced, then, as if this
tradition were an in
ife stinctive reflex, I took
jagM off one of my cuff
SPIV And he took
: .Mr off one of his. We e.\-
changed them, shook
hands and then splinted
W for safety. I never knew’
W his name. I never even saw
him again.
r Alter graduation, 1 served in
military intelligence for five years,
and then, as a private citizen and
entrepreneur, I founded Family
Digest Magazine. But Army ex
periences like that one will remain
with me for my w hole life. During
every Army-Navy game, I have
worn my West Print cuff link on one
wrist and that Annapolis plebe’s on
the other.
Darryl L. Mobley
Austin
Army Class of 1978
if Switching Sides for Sportsmanship ★
In 1942, America fought a two-front war, and trans
portation was strained. No trains or buses could carry
spectators to games. Navy was the home team in An
napolis. West Point sent its team, but no rooting sec
tion. The Navy decided it would be sportsmanlike to
balance the cheering, so tw T o battalions were desig
nated as “Army cadets.” I w’as in one of those battal
ions. We gave Army cheers and sang Army songs all
through the game. On game day, after the national
anthem, we actually yelled “Beat Navy!”
I then served on a destroyer fighting Japan. Fast
forward to now; in Tallahassee, Fla., where I retired.
There have been both West Point and Annapolis gradu-
As “cadets,”
we shouted
Army cheers
and sang
Army songs.
ates here, and for years we
w’atched the games together.
In fact, the West Point crowd
was astonished at how well I
knew their cheers! C 3
Ben Colmery
Tallahassee, Fla.
Navy Class of 1943
TRUMAN WITH PLAYERS: ABB* ROWE. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE. COURTESY HARRY S TRUMAN LIBRARY; MOBLEY BRENT HUMPHREYS FOR USA WEEKENO