D-Day

It was 65 years ago today. June 6, 1944. The invasion of Normandy. D-Day. The 1st and 29th Infantry Division of the United States Army faced the 352nd Infantry Division of the German Army. It was Germany’s best trained division. The place was Omaha beach, which had high bluffs, heavily funneled bunkers, machine guns and artillery. 5000 American soldiers died that day, most within a few hours. It is estimated that 20,000 American soldiers were wounded.

One of those wounded was a young lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers who landed with the 1stth Infantry Division.

He was assigned to the First Engineer Specialty Brigade. Having already participated in the invasion of North Africa, Sicily and Italy, battle was no stranger to him. But his recollection of D-Day would be different.

“When the ramp was lowered from our landing boat, the entire company became inert,” he recalled. “Except for me as a lieutenant, and hey, I was just an engineer, we were leaderless and almost incapable of action. Every officer and sergeant was either killed or wounded, and it became a struggle of survival and rescue. Boys from Georgia, Alabama, New York, California and all over the country were dying right beside me.”

He was also wounded. A piece of shrapnel tore into his left arm during the invasion. He wrapped it up and continued his effort to survive and rescue. His left arm would never be the same.

He received a purple heart for the wound he received in the Battle of Omaha Beach on D-Day. He would also receive a Bronze Star. He went on to fight in the Battle of Okinawa, and achieved the rank of Major. He considered a military career, but decided to resign his commission after the war. He was more interested in teaching and coaching young men.

He became a football coach, and in his pre-game talks to his team, he would often draw analogies between the great battles he had fought in World War II, and the battles about to take place on the gridiron.

Most Auburn fans only know of him as “the gentleman head football coach.” After all, he was at the helm of Auburn’s football team for 25 years.

The Stadium bears his name. In fact, when the stadium name was changed from “Cliff Hare Stadium” to “Jordan-Hare Stadium” in 1973, it was the first time in NCAA history that a stadium was named for a living, active coach.

His name was Ralph “Shug” Jordan.

And today, I don’t want you to remember him as the beloved and endeared Auburn Football Coach from the 50’s to the 70’s. No, today I want you remember that he was just another boy, a boy from Selma, Alabama, who stood side by side with other young men….some from Georgia, some from New York, some from California, some from Alabama….

Today I want you to remember him as one who fought for country and for our freedom. I want you to remember that 65 years ago today, he, along with others who were our country’s best and brightest, hit the beaches of Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword. Remember that he was wounded along with thousands of others as they hit the Normandy Beaches on D-Day.

His name was Ralph “Shug” Jordan. And he IS a “true” American hero.


WJLaneSR

Golden Years

the Rome Georgia Daily News reported that the Northwest Georgia Auburn Club had their annual meeting on Monday, June 1st. It was attended by approximately 100 excited Tiger fans from Rome and the surrounding area. Hoping to hear some “red meat” that would excite the fans, the faithful showed up clad in their Tiger Attire. What they heard from the Tiger’s offensive coordinator was instead quite reserved. In fact, there was no talk of Tiger Prowl or Big Cat Weekend.

Rather, there were words of caution. And maybe this was the correct approach, because the upcoming season does have a lot of unknowns. When asked about spring practice, the response was “We knew coming in that we had to get tougher physically, and that’s what we worked on in the spring. We spent a lot of time with our offensive backs and our wide receivers because if you look at the cold hard facts, and I looked at the game film from every game played last year, we just haven’t had a very productive running game in two or three years. Some people think that the offense we are putting in is pass first, but this offense is run first. ”

When asked what he thought of the results from the spring, particularly in regard to the lack of run production last year, the response was “We’ve got to find people who enjoy knocking folks down and stomping on them. That’s what we’re looking for on our offensive line. And frankly, our line isn’t very deep. But we won’t be a real good football team unless we do that.”

Needless to say, the quarterback situation and the wide receiver situation drew the most questions. “We’ve got a couple of quarterbacks who saw action last year, and we’ve got some young quarterbacks coming in. They’re going to be under tremendous pressure to perform. The potential is there. A couple of our quarterbacks are going to be fine quarterbacks one day…maybe even great. Whether they will be fine players this fall remains to be seen. As for wide receiver, we’ve got a couple of young guys that are going to have to have big years for us. They’re going to have to play now. I don’t know if they’re ready or not, but we’ll see.”

Those comments were made by Auburn Offensive Coordinator Gene Lorendo on June 1, 1969, 40 years ago this week. One of the young quarterbacks he was talking about was sophomore to be Pat Sullivan. The assessment that he had potential and maybe could even be great one day was spot on. One of the young wide receivers who would have to step up, and who Lorendo wasn’t sure was ready, was sophomore to be Terry Beasley.

The words he spoke at the Northwest Georgia Auburn Club could have just as easily been said this year. Auburn DOES need some youth at skilled positions to step up and perform. Some even have potential greatness, but they have to “live into it.” And the offensive line needs to block so that Auburn can have a formidable running game again.

Jeff Beard, who was the Athletic Director at Auburn during those days, was also at that meeting 40 years ago. He told the crowd assembled at the Coosa Valley Fairgrounds outside Rome, “I believe we are about to enter some golden years in Auburn Football’s immediate future. I don’t believe for a minute that all our golden years are behind us.”

Well said, Director Beard. Let’s hope the same thing can be said of Auburn today. There are more golden years ahead, and they’re not all behind us.

WJLaneSR