A real tribute to a Navy alum- JP Blecksmith

Letters to the Editor
Originally published December 15, 2006
Catching a football, serving with valor

I must admit to being in total shock when I read the following quote from The Sun's article "Football carries clout at Navy," (Dec. 10): "'Frankly, I hope that America is being defended by the best Navy men and women that the academy can get and not by some doofus that could catch a football,' saidMurray Sperber, a former English professor at Indiana University who hasbeen an ardent critic of how far colleges go to make exceptions forathletes.

"The Navy did have a guy who could catch the football graduate from the Academy in 2003.
He was a receiver named J.P. Blecksmith.
He earned the rank of lieutenant in the Marines and was sent to Iraq.
Lieutenant Blecksmith was killed in Fallujah, Iraq, by a sniper in 2004.
Hewas posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for bravery and the Purple Heart.
According to the Web site of the JP Blecksmith Leadership Foundation,Lieutenant Blecksmith "had two goals in going to Iraq:
1) He wanted to be a good leader of his Marines in combat, and
2) He wanted to bring all of hismen home safely.
"Is this the person that Mr. Sperber is referring to when he talks about "some doofus that could catch a football"?
I cannot express how reprehensible I found this article. The author fails to point out that the football players who graduate from the Academy go on to serve their country proudly; they put themselves inharm's way and in combat zones and some of them have died protecting thiscountry. Excelling on the football field does not preclude one from defending thefreedoms that our country has enjoyed for more than 200 years.
God help us if it did.
Todd Green
Annapolis