College Oklahoma Education University of Oklahoma Name Bob Kalsu Positions Guard | Role American football player Children James Robert Kalsu Jr. Spouse Jan Kalsu (m. 1968–1970) | |
 | ||
Date of birth (1945-04-13)April 13, 1945 Place of birth Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States Date of death July 21, 1970(1970-07-21) (aged 25) Place of death Thua Thien, South Vietnam † NFL draft 1968 / Round: 8 / Pick 199 Died July 21, 1970, Thua Thien-Hue Province, Vietnam Awards Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart | ||
Bob Kalsu: Football Guard
James Robert "Bob" Kalsu (April 13, 1945 – July 21, 1970) was an All-American tackle at the University of Oklahoma and an eighth-round selection in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League.
Contents
Kalsu was a starting guard for the Bills 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 U.S. 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
Video
