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“If you doubt the axiom, ‘an aggressive leader is priceless,’ if you think grandstand quarterbacks are few at West Point, if you prefer the air arm to the infantry in football, if you are not convinced we recruited cadet-athletes of superior leadership potential, then you must hear the story of Donald Walter Holleder.” So began the chapter entitled “You Are My Quarterback,” in Red Blaik’s book, and so, in turn, one is reminded of the great end-tumed-quarterback for his final football season at West Point. It is a classic story of the individual giving up personal glory in the interest of helping the group and, after the great trauma of defeat and the intense criticism, the final redemption that day in Philadelphia when the Great Experiment paid off in victory. This is Holly's story, and it vividly reflects Holly’s life, for despite adversities and setbacks, Don’s unremitting goal and passion in life was service: service to family, to team, to country, and to God.</p>
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He was, of course, much more than a great football player, athlete, and competitor, but his athletic feats do reflect the strength of character, the perseverence, the maturity, and the inward forcefulness that made him a man among men. He died very much as he lived, with the total commitment to the team of which he was a part, and we are all much richer for having known him, admired him, and loved him.</p>
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Born in upper New York and brought up in a deeply religious family, Don’s life was not without tragedy. He lost his father as a boy, but was blessed with a mother of great character and strength. Don’s life prior to West Point was filled with athletic feats at Aquinas, the large Rochester school that combined so well the scholastic, religious, and athletic elements and which helped mold Holly’s character. By his senior year in high school, Don was a strong, agile football end who received considerable scholastic All-American attention and who was sought out by a number of colleges and universities. Frank Lahey, the great coach at Notre Dame, was particularly anxious to recruit this seventeen-year-old, rawboned 170-pound end, but Doc Blanchard of Army managed to hit upon the key element of Holly’s character—the element of service.</p>
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Holly’s athletic career at West Point needs little recounting. Arriving just as the Academy was emerging from the throes of the shattering experience of the “cribbing” scandal, Don, above all others, was to prove that there was no discrepancy between the ideals and aims of the United States Miltiary Academy and an active intercollegiate athletic program. As a Plebe, he was a promising end on a fine freshman team, a strong rebounder of the plebe basketball team, and a cadet with considerable military aptitude. The demands of athletics took their toll, and Don’s native intelligence and good sense were well tested in the academic classroom. The four-year academic curriculum was a constant challenge to Don, and as the years passed and the demands of athletic fame increased, it was a very tired Holly who stayed up well after his roommates went to bed to struggle with the vagaries of juice, fluids, solids, and particularly English, which came closest to “doing him in.” Those who feel that the super athlete at West Point has it made should have studied Don those four demanding years—no myth about West Point is so persistent, or so incorrect, as that of the pampered athlete.</p>
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Much has been made of Don’s personal sacrifice for the team when he took up the quarterbacking chores in 1955, yet those who knew Don realized at the time that the decision was made as the question was asked. He was asked by someone he greatly admired to do something for the good of the team, and the only question in Don’s mind was whether he would weaken or strengthen the team in the new position. But to refuse Colonel Blaik was to Donald Walter Holleder unthinkable.</p>
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The 1954 Army football team roster included such names as Bobby Farris, Tommy Bell, Pete Vann, Ralph Chesnauskas, Pat Uebel, Dick Stephenson, and many others: the air-strike combination, Vann to Holleder. As the season progressed, the sports writers were well aware of Holly: “If there has been an All-American performance in the East this season, it was Holleder’s yesterday...“His touchdown catches were gems...he turned on a burst of speed to beat the defenders...Yet the season ended with a frustrating defeat by Navy.</p>
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Prospects for the 1955 season were not too promising. Holleder’s conversion by Blaik from an end of All-American calibre to quarterback was a touchy proposition at best. Filling the position vacated by Peter Vann, a great passer, Don was subjected to much criticism because of his passing. The Great Experiment had its detractors. Three defeats led up to the Navy game where the West Pointers faced the fine Welch-Beagle combination. Herman Hickman’s comments in Sports Illustrated prefaced the big game, “Colonel Blaik’s Great Experiment was designed primarily for use against Navy. Holleder, one of the greatest competitors football has ever seen, may be a bear at his new position in the game that matters...It certainly would be a personal triumph for him (Colonel Blaik) and Don Holleder if the cadets come through.” And come through they did, after an initial Navy touchdown. There was no question that Don deserved a great share of credit for the victory.</p>
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Don got the opportunity to play end in intercollegiate competition one last time at the North-South game at Miami’s Orange Bowl the day after Christmas, 1955. He was named the outstanding offensive lineman for his superb play at his old position.</p>
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Don, of course, was also a fine basketball player. His finest moment may have been the 1954 ARMY-Navy basketball game when he came in late in the game to rebound superbly, despite an injured leg, and preserve a victory over a tournament-bound Navy team.</p>
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West Point was a challenge to Don, but he thrived on challenges. When he graduated as Cadet Captain, Company Commander, winner of the Army Athletic Association Award for the outstanding football player of the Class, All-American End, winner of the Swede Nelson Award for Sportsmanship, the applause rocked the West Point Field House. The applause was not only for a great athlete, but for a man who had given much of himself to West Point in his four years and who had already demonstrated the desire to give equally as much in the service of his country.</p>
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After graduation, Don began a career in the Infantry, his chosen field, although he had a great passion for flying and had been disappointed that he was unable to pursue a flying career.</p>
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He married Caroline Pierce on 28 December 1957, in a beautiful ceremony at Fort Myer Chapel. Don and Caroline were to be blessed with four lovely daughters in the next eight years as they spent their lives together in Hawaii, at West Point for coaching and scouting duties, at Fort Benning for the career course, at Fort Monroe, and at Fort Leavenworth for Command and Staff College. A year in Korea brought Don further honors, for he was selected as the outstanding company commander in Korea, a well-deserved honor for a man who was an inspiration to all with whom he served. When told he was to be sent to Europe after the year at Leavenworth, Don worked to get his assignment changed to Vietnam.</p>
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He died as he had lived; the willingness to make great personal sacrifices prevailed to the minute of his death. The Newsweek article a few days after his death demonstrates the man Don Holleder was. "With the Viet Cong firing from two sides, the U. S. troops now began retreating pell-mell back to their base camp, carrying as many of their wounded as they could. The medic Hinger was among those who staggered out of the bush and headed across an open marshy plain toward the base 200 meters away. But on the way he ran into big, forceful Major Donald W. Holleder, 33, an All-American football player at West Point..., going the other way-toward the scene of the battle. Holleder, operations officer for the brigade, had not been in the fight until now. ‘Come on Doc,’ he shouted to Hinger. ‘There are still wounded in there. I need your help.’</p>
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“Hinger said later: ‘I was exhausted. But I have never seen such a commander, and I ran after him. What an officer! He went on ahead of us—literally running to the point position.’ Then a burst of fire from the trees caught Holleder. ‘He was hit in the shoulder, recalled Hinger. ‘I started to patch him up, but he died in my arms.’ The medic added he had been with Holleder for only three minutes, but would remember the Major’s gallantry for the rest of his life.”</p>
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The funeral was held on a clear, crisp, football day at the same chapel in which he and Caroline had been married just ten short years earlier. His family, friends, classmates, and admirers overfilled the interior of the church and spilled over onto the surrounding grounds. Friends came from Rochester, from West Point, from North Carolina, Minnesota, Colorado—all on short notice to honor Don. The honorary pall bearers included Red Blaik, his coach; Hank Emerson, his favorite tactical officer; Pete Vann, the other half of the great Vann-Holleder passing combination and the closest of friends; Tom Cahill, friend from Don’s coaching days at West Point and present Army coach; Bill Crites, company mate and friend; George Bryant, lifelong friend from Rochester; and Bob Urquhart, his closest friend and fellow Aquinas star. His two roommates were there with Don’s family, and the Generals, Congressmen, press, and TV people were all there in numbers to honor Don publicly for the last time. Senator Robert Kennedy, who was soon to meet untimely death himself, wired his condolences, as did Vince Lombardi and many others.</p>
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Don was no ordinary man, and when one has been close to greatness, the loss of that greatness is harder to bear. We are all much better for having known him. Whether the acquaintance was long or brief, each was unforgettable. No one who ever saw him play football will ever forget his ability to execute the impossible play or catch the pass that was seemingly overthrown. For Don there were no impossible dreams, only challenges to seek out and to conquer.</p>
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God in His infinite wisdom has taken Don from our presence, but not from our hearts. We moum for him, but we should not, for he was at peace with God when he died, and although his life was short, it was so full of the enthusiasm for life’s challenges that Don would probably not want to change its course if he had his life to live over.</p>
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Many awards, scholarships, and honors have already been established in Don’s name, and there will surely be more. There is no better man to honor in this way. All West Pointers can be proud of Donald Walter Holleder. His thousands of friends and millions of fans salute him for his character and supreme courage.</p>
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<em>—Major Perry M. Smith Classmate</em></p>