Bob Kalsu

Bob Kalsu

Date of birth	(1945-04-13)April 13, 1945
Place of birth	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
Date of death
Place of death	Thua Thien, South Vietnam †
Career information
Position(s)	Guard
College	Oklahoma
NFL draft	1968 / Round: 8 / Pick 199
Career history
As player
1968	Buffalo Bills
Career stats
Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com
Military career
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1968–1970
Rank	1st Lieutenant
Unit	101st Airborne Division
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord
Awards	Bronze Star Purple Heart

James Robert "Bob" Kalsu (April 13, 1945 – July 21, 1970) was an All-American tackle at the University of Oklahoma and an eighth-round draft pick by the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League in 1968.

Kalsu was a starting guard in 1968. He played the entire season and was the Bills' team rookie-of-the-year. Following the 1968 season, to satisfy his Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) obligation, he entered the Army as a Second Lieutenant and arrived in Vietnam in November 1969 as part of the 101st Airborne Division. He was killed in action on July 21, 1970 when his unit came under enemy mortar fire at FSB Ripcord near the A Shau Valley. His family, out of respect, refused to talk in detail about the circumstances surrounding his death.

When he had left for Vietnam, Lieutenant Kalsu had to say goodbye to his wife, Jan, and his daughter Jill. On July 23, 1970, two days after his death, Jan Kalsu gave birth to his son, James Robert Kalsu Jr, at the Kalsu home in Oklahoma City. Mrs. Kalsu was informed of her husband's death only hours later. Kalsu and former Cleveland Brown Don Steinbrunner were the only professional football players to lose their lives in the Vietnam War.

Honors

• FOB Kalsu in Babil, Iraq, was named after him.
• In 1999, NFL Films produced a feature on Kalsu that was nominated for an Emmy Award.
• In 2000, the Buffalo Bills added Kalsu's name to the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame.
• In 2002, the replacement company at Fort Campbell was named in honor of him – 1LT J. Robert Kalsu Replacement Company.
• Del City High School's football stadium bears his name.
• There is a CrossFit Work Out of the Day (WOD) named in his honor.

See also

• Pat Tillman
• Harry O'Neill - One of the two Major League Baseball players killed in World War II.
• Tim James – Basketball player who left his professional sports career and enlisted in the United States Army on September 12, 2008.
• Other American Football League players
• Don Steinbrunner

External links

• Kalsu's memorial on The Virtual Wall website
• Benning soldiers adapt to new environment
• Fort Campbell 1LT J. Robert Kalsu Replacement Company
• Buffalo News story on Kalsu