The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-12-11
by. ROBERT EDGREN.

BY. ROBERT EDGREN.
A quarter of century ago Stephen
| Crane wrote a great war story and
called it The Red Badge of Cour-
age"
You don't have to go to war to find
men who wear the badge of courage.
I've seen 1t in many fields of sport
Sometimes 1t isn't red. 1t may be
the color of mud. like the Army and
Navy teams when they fought to a
| 10 Navy victory at the Polo Grounds
two weeks ago.
/ always like to see that Army
/ Navy game. There's never a second
| in II when either team says in even
the most momentary admission OF i'm
pending defeat. It's fight. fight
fight" all the way. just like the chant
Of the rooters. The badge of courage
is always fluttering where Army and
Navy play.
That last three minutes, for in
stance. in the recent game when the
Army team. battling for a long hour,
| in mud ankle deep. against a foe that
had the edge in team play and bril-
liant individual ground gaining runs,
made its last furious attack and came
within a few yards of reaching the
Navy goal line.
Every man on both teams was
mud plastered from head to foot, so
that the field seemed in the posses
sion of a twisting. tumbling mass of
black warriors. indisting Unstable one
from another except for the positions
| they leaped to as each new play
| started.
The Army had not been able to
make ground against the Nays
strong defence. For fifty-four min
utes it had not made first down. But
it never stopped trying
Suddenly French broke through.
evaded one tackler after another. and
ran thirty yards through the mud
before Noyes cut him down, twenty
two yards from the Navy goal line.
/ Then. driving furiously. the Army
crashed along to the S-yard line.
where the Navy held the first fresh
attack. Came a forward pass-and
a leapinC mud-smeared Navy back in
| tercepted the ball and turned back
the fighting Army team until tire
whistle blew.
The muddy badge of courage might
have been pinned on every man of
both teams. there wasn't a moment
of weakening by any man in the long.
hard struggle. It's always that way.
| Courage, above all other things is
the demand of the game at West Point
and Annapolis.
The same may be said Of every
college team, although in ability to
fight a losing battle 10 the last sec
ond of play. without for an instant
showing A sign of discoura cement or
weakness, Army and Navy are stu
| preme.
l was talking this over with Tad
Jones of Yale.
They always fight every step Of
the way" said Tad. That's WHY
some people say they don't play as
clever game of football as some
of the colleges do. They play
mighty good football. But the clev-
crest attack in the world NAV NOT
make much of a showing when II
goes against a fighting defense.
| These Army and Navy teams. ON the
defensive, line Up like a lot of Wild
cats. ripping. tearing, clawing.
IF they can't get an arm or a
leg" said Jones, grinning, they'll
take an ear. That's the spirit those
boys have"
| IT'S the spirit that animated
Sergt. Woodfill, u s. A, when his
ammunition ran low in battle in
France, and he cleaned out the last
German machine gun nest by charg-
ing into 1t w tn pickaxe. The Red
Badge of Courage! He had it!
Gamness in the Ring.
I've often been asked who was the
earnest man l ever saw in the ring.
Thats question impossible to an
s"cr' because after all a majority
OF men are game. Fighters are
usually game, for If they hadn't been
game they never would have gone
far in their profession. And when a.
man is game there's no halfway
finish. 'He
But a few incidents stand out in
my mlnd-plctures that will not
iaue. There is one of Kid Mccoy.
sneeringly beating Kid Carter with
punches designed to finish him slow
~, suuue.iy caught by a desperate
swing and knocked out cold.
The bell rang while Mccoy was
uo"n ana unconscious. His seconds
ran IN, lited him and dragged him
toward ms corner. Mccoy woke up.
Dazed' ne pushed the, seconds away
ana looked around for Carter. to see
him. grinnins, just sitting down i'm
his chair.
Mccoy. tried to walk toward his
corner reeled sideways to the ropes.
and refusing aid pulled himself
slowly along. guided by the TOP
rope, until he reached his corner
and sat down Only half a minut.
remained for the rest, and as the
bell rang. Mccoy rose unsteady.
walked straight across the ring.
| still unable to raise his hands and