"A rousing celebration of a moment in history when college football was more than metaphor and entertainment, it was a gritty sidebar to real war.” — Robert Lipsyte, author of An Accidental Sportswriter Each year the Army and Navy football teams meet for one epic game. Across the nation, fans tune in to see who will emerge victorious. But no game will ever match the one that was played on December 2, 1944. America was in the midst of World War II: soldiers and sailors were dying around the globe, and the home front suffered through shortages. But for one day, all that was forgotten. Navy’s team was ranked number two, Army’s number one and on the verge of becoming national champions. Everywhere, the war stopped as soldiers listened to the broadcast. Randy Roberts has interviewed the surviving players and coaches, bringing their stories to life. For three years, military upperclassmen graduated and joined the fight. For three hours, their alma mater gave them back one unforgettable performance. “The story of Army’s celebrated 1944 national championship team is a fascinating one, and its victory over Navy that year is remembered as one of college football’s greatest games. But Randy Roberts’s A Team for America tells an even greater story. It is a story of our country. Of a time when college football — and this remarkable Army team — helped rekindle hope and confidence throughout the land.” — Brigadier General Peter M. Dawkins, U.S. Army (Ret.), 1958 Heisman Trophy winner, West Point "Roberts brings a historian’s thoroughness to the subject . . . A fascinating time in American collegiate sports history." — Kirkus Reviews "A rousing celebration of a moment in history when college football was more than metaphor and entertainment, it was a gritty sidebar to real war.” — Robert Lipsyte, author of An Accidental Sportswriter Each year the Army and Navy football teams meet for one epic game. Across the nation, fans tune in to see who will emerge victorious. But no game will ever match the one that was played on December 2, 1944. America was in the midst of World War II: soldiers and sailors were dying around the globe, and the home front suffered through shortages. But for one day, all that was forgotten. Navy’s team was ranked number two, Army’s number one and on the verge of becoming national champions. Everywhere, the war stopped as soldiers listened to the broadcast. Randy Roberts has interviewed the surviving players and coaches, bringing their stories to life. For three years, military upperclassmen graduated and joined the fight. For three hours, their alma mater gave them back one unforgettable performance. “The story of Army’s celebrated 1944 national championship team is a fascinating one, and its victory over Navy that year is remembered as one of college football’s greatest games. But Randy Roberts’s A Team for America tells an even greater story. It is a story of our country. Of a time when college football — and this remarkable Army team — helped rekindle hope and confidence throughout the land.” — Brigadier General Peter M. Dawkins, U.S. Army (Ret.), 1958 Heisman Trophy winner, West Point "Roberts brings a historian’s thoroughness to the subject . . . A fascinating time in American collegiate sports history." — Kirkus Reviews [AU PHOTO] RANDY ROBERTS is a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University. His previous books include John Wayne: American (coauthored with James Olson), Joe Louis: Hard Times Man, and Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes. He is married to Marjie Traylor Roberts and the father of twin daughters, Alison and Kelly. RANDY ROBERTS is a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue University. His previous books include John Wayne: American (coauthored with James Olson), Joe Louis: Hard Times Man , and Papa Jack: Jack Johnson and the Era of White Hopes among others. He is married to Marjie Traylor Roberts and father to twin daughters, Alison and Kelly. PROLOGUE         Far off I hear the rolling, roaring cheers.    They come to me from many yesterdays,    From record deeds that cross the fading years,    And light the landscape with their brilliant plays,    Great stars that knew their days in fame’s bright sun.    I hear them tramping to oblivion.    —Grantland Rice "But our son played at Harvard,” the couple explained when they were refused tickets at the gate of Michie Stadium for the 1943 Army-Navy game. It seemed like a perfectly valid reason, irrefutable to them. Still, unless they had spent the previous few weeks in quarantine, they must have known what everyone else who read a newspaper, listened to a radio, or heard any of the football gossip knew—anyone who lived beyond a ten-mile radius of West Point and who failed to send in a verified application for a ticket would be banned from the contest. Gasoline, and tire rubber, was too valuable. Army officials would not sell any tickets at the gate. That was football near the end of th