The 34th US President, Dwight David Eisenhower played football for the United States Military Academy at West Point where he was known as “The Kansas Cyclone” and ran seventy yards in a game against Yale in 1912. A knee injury in his second year ended his football career (but not his military career). Eisenhower went on to coach the Ft Benning Doughboys and during his military career arose to the Rank of General – Supreme Commander of the Allies in Europe during WW II and then later served two terms as President of the United States of America
In 1956, he established the marksman unit in the US Army that often provides keen competitors to the Olympics. They have brought back over 40 medals from those competitions, while acting as a research and improvement unit for the entire US Army. They’re based at Ft Benning, GA.
The distinction of the Ft Benning Doughboys is that the football team in the 1960s was undefeated.
I have one yardstick by which I test every major problem – and that yardstick is: Is it good for America?
Posted 3 years, 5 months ago at 8:17 pm. Add a comment
I recently was asked by one of my friends to restore a photo of a championship football team from 1962 of the Fort Benning Doughboys. They were undefeated in their season and are planning a reunion later in 2008. It was a rewarding challenge to take a 40 year-old photo and bring it back to life in a current version.
The photo turned out so well, that I suggested to this fine athelete and retired US Army Special Forces officer that I could then turn it into a notecard. What you see below is my latest creation from that effort.
I also did some research about Fort Benning, located in Georgia, and found that the installation is located on what was originally farmland that previously contained many Native American settlements and has been a launching pad for many outstanding names in the annals of history — “Fort Benning’s long history has produced an impressive alumni list. Eisenhower coached its football team. Marshall rewrote the curriculum. Patton pushed men to prepare for battle. Bradley organized its Officer’s Training School, a source for men of rank in World War II. Powell and Schwarzkopf were honor graduates, as were Eaton and Freakley and other heroes from the sands of Iraq.”
Key to the success of the infantry of the US Army, soldiers learn how to jump from airplanes, the US Army Rangers are now there, and the powerful mobility of helicopters was discovered at “Benning”
Posted 4 years ago at 12:46 am. 5 comments
