Memorial honors Air Force Academy's Vietnam veterans

The three commander-in-chief college football games are special occasions of football rivalry, military pageantry and fellowship among those who serve our country past and present.

On Nov. 7, Air Force (5-3) hosted Army (2-6) in Colorado Springs, Colo. The pregame fanfest outside of Falcon Stadium included Army demonstrations of vintage tanks, trucks and field artillery from nearby Fort Carson, as well as reserve units. The West Point Association of Graduates hosted alumni, parents, student band members, cheerleaders they call "Rabbelrousers," and other cadets who made the trip from West Point.

The Air Force Corps of Cadets conducted a march onto the field, led by color guards of both academies. The Air Force cadets know how the mild mid-day weather could turn cold by end of the day so they wore their blue overcoats while the Army cadets wore service camouflage uniforms. The Air Force Academy band played the National Anthem for the 37,716 people in attendance. A flyover performed by two Vietnam-era F4 Phantoms and two modern F22 Raptors built the atmosphere and provided a tribute to veterans.

After the cadets broke their formations and ran into the stands, a parachute demonstration was conducted with cadet jumpers from both academies. Cadets who participate in these stadium precision jumps average 400 jumps year round. The Air Force team, with their white canopies, edged the Black Knights in the competition landing in the mile high altitude stadium.

A unique tradition of these games is the "prisoner exchange." Each semester a half-dozen students from each academy study and train as exchange students at the other academies. At the football games the exchange students are formally marched to the center of the field and returned so they can sit with their classmates to cheer on their teams. The West Point "first captain" Eugene Coleman marched his Air Force captives on to the field to conduct the return with his Air Force counterpart.

The game early on was a defensive struggle with eight straight punts until Air Force sophomore Luke Streble hit a 22-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead in the second quarter. Air Force kept the pressure on the Army pass defense as senior quarterback Karson Roberts connected with senior wide receiver Garret Brown for 59 yards to set up a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Garret Griffin. After Streble's kick, Air Force held a 10-0 halftime lead.

During a break, the Air Force Academy Association of Graduates recognized its alumni honored on its new Southeast Asia Plaza of Heroes, dedicated the day before. The memorial honors 1965 graduate Capt. Lance Sijan, who was awarded the Medal of Honor, and its 16 Air Force Cross recipients and 205 Silver Star recipients. On Nov. 9, 1967, Sijan, an Air Force football player, was ejected from his F4 over Laos. He managed to avoid capture for 45 days, attempted escape several times despite multiple untreated injuries, and died as a POW. Sijan's remains were returned after the war, and he's interned in Milwaukee.

In the third quarter, Army got on the scoreboard with a 42-yard field goal by senior Dan Grochowski but the offense continued to struggle. Its defense was led by a pair of junior inside linebackers, Jeremy Timpf and Andrew King, who would combine for 21 tackles.

The fourth quarter opened with Streble's second field goal to give Air Force a 13-3 lead. Later, Roberts connected with Griffin again for a touchdown, giving Air Force a 17-point lead.

Immediately following the final whistle of the 20-3 Air Force victory, the great tradition of these games was performed, the playing of each team's anthem. First the Army West Point team lined up in front of the Army student band and cadets for the playing of the West Point alma mater with the Air Force team standing right behind them. The Black Knights concluded the song with a cheer of "beat Navy" as they do no matter who they are playing.

The teams then shifted to the other end of the field for the playing of the Air Force anthem, the winning team having the coveted honor of singing second. A final notable event of the day was a joint drum encounter by the two student bands on the center of the field demonstrating their military drumming skills.

Army will face Navy on Dec. 12 in Philadelphia in one of the sport's biggest rivalries. Navy will be favored with an opportunity to win outright the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. In October, Navy defeated Air Force 33-11.

Ken Kraetzer is executive director of the Sons of The American Legion radio based at Squadron 135 in White Plains, NY. Reach him via email at kgk914@aol.com or on Twitter, @SonsLegionradio.