WEST POINT, N.Y. — West Point began as a fort on a bluff overlooking a sharp turn on the Hudson River during the Revolutionary War. It is still America's oldest military academy. In 1802, it became the home to the U.S. Military Academy. About 250 miles south sits the United States Naval Academy.
In a year in which the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world we live in, college football fans, and Americans as a whole, will get to enjoy one of the country's greatest traditions and spectacles.
For the 121st time, the United States Military Academy will take to the field against the United States Naval Academy. Traditionally, the game has been played in Philadelphia with several games also played in the Baltimore-area and the New York City-area. The last time the rivalry was played at West Point was in 1943.
In late November 1943, the world was in crisis. Only two years before, the United States had been forced into World War II after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Earlier in 1943, the United States Army helped the Allies defeat the Axis in both Northern Africa and Italy. The Army was also planning and mobilizing for the Normandy landings the following summer.
The Navy, on the other hand, had already seen early success in the Pacific. However, the success was met with plenty of tragedy. Just days before the Army-Navy Game on Nov. 27, a Japanese submarine attacked the USS Liscome Bay. It took only 23 minutes for the carrier to slip below the Pacific Ocean, taking 644 with her. Among the dead was Doris Miller, an African-American sailor who was awarded the Navy Cross for manning a gun during the Pearl Harbor attack despite his position as a cook.
Still, despite the war, the game played on, though the games were moved from neutral sites to prevent fans traveling to the games on the railroads, which were being used for the war effort. Only 15,000 fans were allowed into Michie Stadium. In fact, fans had to reserve tickets and live within a defined radius of West Point.
Navy went on to win the game 13-0 en route to a 8-1 season. Many of the seniors who played in that game would be shipped of the Europe or the Pacific to join the war.
More than 70 years later, the world is in the midst of another crisis fighting a different war against a global pandemic. Perhaps like fans in 1943, many in 2020 wondered and hoped college football's greatest tradition would still happen. Even when the season finally kicked off, fans still waiting with careful optimism hoping Army-Navy would take the field.
Though the war is against COVID-19 is far from over, the game will continue.
Despite the pandemic, despite a divisive election, despite the innumerable challenges the nation has faced in 2020, millions across the country will join hands (virtually) with the men and women of our armed forces to watch two teams comprised of future heroes meet each other along the banks of the Hudson River and take part in perhaps America's most beautiful tradition. For that, we are thankful.
