The gridiron battles between Army and Navy in the years 1941 through 1945 were some of the most unusual ever played.  Although they were technically just two college football teams, the entire nation was involved.  The sacrifices and events surrounding   these games have never been equaled.  What made them so “different” was that the United States was in the midst of a world war and that changed the significance of everything.

1941

It was the Summer of 1941 and Army hadn’t beaten Navy in three years.  More than that Army had won precious few games against anybody in the preceding years and it was not only embarrassing; it was humiliating.  So Red Blaik was hired as the new football coach and with his hard-bit and disciplined reputation it was hoped he could bring more wins than losses.  The first thing he did, however, was almost lose the team.  He worked them so hard physically and at fundamentals to the point of exhaustion that many players began to consider just plain quitting.  But he wanted a team that was in shape and that wouldn’t make basic mistakes on the field.  Despite the grumbling, the Cadets responded and finally had a winning season.  And although Navy beat Army again that Fall (this time 14-6) it was at least competitive and the 102,000 fans who saw the game at Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium were thrilled.  Most had arrived by train, coming from all parts of the country and the Pennsylvania railroad had to add 38 more trains than normal to handle the extra passengers.  Incidentally, in the official game program, there was a color photo of the battleship Arizona, with the caption, “no battleship has ever been sunk by a bomb.”  It was the day after Thanksgiving and just a week later the world would be changed forever with the Arizona lying at the bottom of Honolulu Bay.