October 17, 1967: The Death of Don Holleder

October 17, 1967: Major Don Holleder, U.S. Army, is shot and killed by a Viet Cong sniper while attempting to rescue a wounded soldier and bring him aboard a helicopter, in the Battle of Ong Thanh. He was 33.

The Buffalo native was a star athlete at Aquinas Institute in Rochester, and was recruited to the football team at the U.S. Military Academy by Vince Lombardi, then an assistant to their head coach, Colonel Earl "Red" Blaik. He was an All-American end in 1954, but was moved to quarterback in 1955, and led the team to a 6-3 record, including an upset of Navy that made him the 1st athlete from any of the service academies to be shown on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He graduated the following Spring, and one of his classmates was Norman Schwarzkopf, later field commander of all allied troops in the Persian Gulf War.

Although drafted by the New York Giants, he would have had to sit out his military commitment. (Which might have worked out, because Charlie Conerly would have retired as quarterback by then, but the Giants got Y.A. Tittle instead.) He stayed in the Army until his death, including a tenure as an assistant coach at West Point, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1974, his high school's football stadium, Aquinas Memorial Stadium, was renamed Holleder Memorial Stadium. Professional soccer's Rochester Lancers played there, including their home leg of the 1970 North American Soccer League Final, in which they beat the Washington Darts, before surviving the D.C. leg to be named NASL Champions.

Holleder Stadium was torn down in 1985, and Holleder Technology Park is now on the site, on Holleder Parkway. That same year, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame, and West Point's arena was named the Donald W. Holleder Center.

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October 17, 1967 was a Tuesday. On the same day, the musical Hair opened at the Public Theater in New York. I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball season had ended 5 days earlier, when the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the World Series. Football was in midweek. A new hockey season was underway, but no games were scheduled.

There were 4 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks open their season, their last at the old Madison Square Garden, where they beat the San Francisco Warriors 124-122. In his 1st professional game, Walt Frazier -- not yet nicknamed "Clyde" -- does not play. Walt Bellamy leads the Knicks with 16 points, but will be traded for Dave DeBusschere, in what turns out to be a title-making trade.

Their last game at the 49th-50th Street and 8th-9th Avenue Garden was on February 10, 1968, and they beat the Philadelphia 76ers 115-97. Their 1st game at the 31st-33rd Street and 7th-8th Avenue Garden was on February 14, and they beat the San Diego Rockets 114-102.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Cincinnati Royals, 131-108 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Dave Bing scored 35 points for the Pistons. The arena was named for Albert Cobo, Mayor of Detroit from 1950 to 1957. Bing would serve as Mayor from 2009 to 2014.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls, 107-105 at the Chicago Stadium. Bob Boozer scored 36 in defeat.

* And, in only their 2nd game ever, the San Diego Rockets lost to the St. Louis Hawks, 123-105 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). The Hawks moved to Atlanta the following season. The Rockets moved to Houston in 1971.

And there was 1 game in the brand-new American Basketball Association: The Houston Mavericks beat the Denver Rockets, 102-85 at the Auditorium Arena in Denver. This was the 2nd game for the Rockets, who, in anticipation of being admitted to the NBA, and with that league already having a team named the Rockets in Houston, changed their name to that of the long-defunct first Denver team in the NBA: The Denver Nuggets.