What are my summer plans? Write a Memorial Day Roo Tale of course. This year’s tale will honor Richard Earl (R.E.) St. John (AC ’36), who died in the Atlantic saving his fellow sailors after an attack by a Nazi U-Boat.
What are my summer plans? Attend Legends 2023 of course. Gordon Eiland (’79), Matt Finke (’10), Dyke McMahen (’86), David “Scooter” Means (’09), Colleen Walsh (’07), and Reed Heim (’00) will be inducted. Why, I recently chatted with Reed Heim at the Gar Hole.
Claude Webb Jr.’s Gar Hole will also be a part of Legends 2023. The Gar Hole will host the Friday Night “Roos Reception” in honor of Danny Gilstrap (’67). Gilstrap was a Roo pole vaulter who lost his life in a tragic and morally ambiguous conflict in Vietnam.
I’ve written about Gilstrap and Vietnam, a country I was fortunate to visit in 2015. At the time, I knew quite a bit about Gilstrap’s time at AC and the Indochinese war in which he lost his life. I am an AC International Studies guy after all. See the comments.
But I didn’t know much about Gilstrap’s life before AC. Danny Gilstrap was a standout pole vaulter for his Kilgore HS Bulldogs, often competing in track & field competitions at the Kilgore football stadium. That football stadium is named for a former Kilgore coach.
That Kilgore coach lost his life in the Atlantic saving his fellow sailors after an attack by a Nazi U-Boat. Yes indeed, Danny Gilstrap (AC ’67) was a Kilgore Bulldog who competed at Richard Earl (R.E.) St. John (AC ’36) Stadium. St. John is the subject of this year’s Memorial Day Roo Tale.
What’s the definition of a Roo tie? It’s a tie linking two Roo veterans to be remembered by Marc during his summer activities of 2023. The Roo Tale story honoring St. John will be shared on Memorial Day in May. See y’all at the Gar Hole “Roos Reception” in memory of Gilstrap in July.
Coach Richard Earl (R.E.) St. John certainly gave a state title a shot.
After his 1936 graduation from Austin College, St. John joined the staff of Kilgore HS football. As an assistant, he helped the Bulldogs reach the playoffs for the first time. In 1941, St. John was promoted to Head Coach and endured only 2 losses in 1941 against tough East Texas competition from Marshall and Longview to Tyler and Carthage. That promising 1941 season also fell short of a state title.
The East Texas district titles and playoff wins were rare for Kilgore in the decades which followed. But then came Coach Mike Vallery, who suddenly made winning a tradition. The Bulldogs either won or shared the district championship in seven of nine seasons up to the magical year of 2004. In 2004, Kilgore was unbeatable, notching a 15-0 record and a trip to Floyd Casey stadium to face Dallas Lincoln for a state championship.
Kilgore & Lincoln were still tied after regulation and one OT. In the second overtime, Lincoln lined up for field goal to take the lead. But Kilgore DB Nick Sanders blocked the kick, recovered, and returned for Kilgore TD in what was one of the most exciting finishes to a state title game in Texas history. Mike Vallery & his squad were able to return to Richard Earl (R.E.) St. John stadium in Kilgore as champions.
R.E. St. John will be this month’s Memorial Day Roo Tale. St. John lost his life during the Battle of the Atlantic, attempting to save his fellow sailors after engagement with a Nazi U-Boat. Research for the story has led me to the history of the American Navy’s fight against German submarines. It has also led me to Kilgore, that amazing 2004 title, and Coach Mike Vallery.
Mike Vallery was inducted into the East Texas Coaches Association Hall of Honor just weeks ago. The timing could not have been better, given my focus on all things St. John & Kilgore. St. John would have been in his 80s in 2004. He might have even been able to make the trip to Waco as a former Kilgore coach if not for the bravery and service in the Atlantic that would lead to the naming of Richard Earl (R.E.) St. John Stadium.
Rockwall County I know well. I often drive through Rockwall County to see a bunch of Roos at a lake house nearby. Most of the Roos were my fraternity actives. They either played AC football or were fans of the ones who did. They’re older than me, which means they were in Sherman during the football season of 1987 before I arrived in 1988.
I’ll never hesitate to make my actives a part of a Roo Tale, something they will take part in while also rolling their eyes at their pledge. Because of me, they often have “Roo Tale homework.” And it looks like these fellas will soon have more Roo Tale homework once again in Rockwall County.
Richard Earl (R.E.) St. John was a kid growing up in Rockwall County 100 years ago. He lived on a farm in Royse City, a member of a family that had never sent anyone to college. But St. John was a good student and excelled in athletics, attributes which took him from the farm to AC. He was a history major, President of the “A” Association, and a letterman in basketball and football. St. John was a contributor to the 1935 Texas Conference champion Kangaroos, a team that defeated Trinity in the final football game of the season to earn the crown.
St. John left Sherman for Kilgore after his 1936 graduation, ascending to Head Coach in 1941. But after one season, America came calling. St. John enlisted in the Navy, reached the rank of Ensign, and was assigned duties on the USS Borie during the Battle of the Atlantic. After a famous and victorious clash with Nazi U-Boat 405, the USS Borie sank as its crew abandoned ship while being rescued by the USS Goff in horrific conditions. After reaching safety aboard the Goff, St. John dove back into the frigid and turbulent waters to save his fellow sailors. At least four sailors owe their lives to St. John, who drowned while looking for more.
Richard Earl St. John is the subject of this year’s Memorial Day Roo Tale; his story is already written and will be shared on Memorial Day, June 29th. For his bravery, St. John was awarded the Purple Heart and a Presidential Unit Citation by the U.S. Navy. He is honored in his adopted hometown of Kilgore. In 1947, the Kilgore Bulldogs renamed their home field “R.E. St. John Stadium.” The stadium is still in use today.
St. John was also honored by Austin College. Back in 1987, Austin College Hall of Honor inductions took place during halftime of the last game of the football season. During the season finale against Tarleton State, a game in which my actives pictured here were either playing or watching, Richard Earl St. John was inducted posthumously into the AC Hall of Honor. Accepting the induction on St. John’s behalf was the quarterback of the 1935 conference champion Roos, who told the AC crowd of St. John’s death “as a true hero.”
Not surprisingly, St. John is also honored by his home of Rockwall County. Travel to the county courthouse, and you’ll find a plaque listing the names of all county residents lost during World War 2. St. John’s name is there, one of the fallen in a conflict whose veterans are increasingly no longer with us. Looks like my actives will have more Roo Tale homework with me once again in the future: a Memorial Day Roo Tale pit stop to pay respects to a fallen Roo at the courthouse of Rockwall County.
For those of you who can’t pull off the homework of a trip to Rockwall County, I’ve got an alternative assignment: watch the 2020 movie “Greyhound” starring Tom Hanks. I have now watched it, and it’s excellent. Many of the scenes are inspired by the actual clash between the USS Borie & the German U-Boat 405. And the performances of Hanks and others will give you a good idea of what life was like of USN Ensign Richard Earl St. John, who never made it back to his home in Rockwall County.
See y’all Memorial Day.
It’s Memorial Day weekend, which means it’s time for another Memorial Day Roo Tale. This year’s tale tells the story of Richard Earl St. John (AC ’36) who perished in the Battle of the Atlantic. St. John hailed from a family of farmers in Rockwall County and was the first in his family to attend college. Upon hearing the news of his son’s acceptance to AC, I bet St. John’s father thought his family was finally walking in “high cotton.”
It’s Memorial Day weekend, which means it’s time for another edition of the Bill Cotton Memorial Day golf tournament at Balcones Country Club in Austin. Bill Cotton was the original developer of Balcones; his family has a lifelong association with the governing boards of the club going back half a century. Bill was the patriarch of a good Presbyterian family that includes an Austin College Kangaroo: 1984 AC graduate John Cotton.
Who will win this year’s edition of the Bill Cotton Memorial Day tournament? I’ve got my eye on the 2021 winner, who now plays golf for the Longhorns of the University of Texas. She led her HS team to a Texas state championship in 2019, earned First Team Academic All-Big 12 recognition in 2022, and led her Longhorns this week to a quarterfinal finish at the NCAA D1 women’s golf national championship in Phoenix. She’s also John’s niece & Bill’s granddaughter. Her name is Bentley Cotton.
My USTA tennis league in Austin plays all around the city, and our match this week took place at Balcones Country Club. Bentley had better weather in Phoenix than I did in Austin. Tuesday was a rainout, so Dianne & I instead headed to the club house and asked the staff for signs with “anything Cotton.” “EVERYBODY KNOWS THE COTTONS!” was the reply, and we were directed to tee box #1 dedicated to the memory of Bentley’s grandfather Bill Cotton.
Our match was rescheduled for Wednesday, which was bright and sunny. We also had a spectator. Bentley’s uncle John arrived to support. John, always one to back Roos with enthusiasm, watched us cruise to a victory at the Club founded by his father. I’m proud to say that after finally getting to play at what I consider the “Cotton Club,” I am still undefeated at the club developed by Bill Cotton.
The stories of my AC international relations degree are ones of injustice; no country is immune, and every country has its sins. Yet the year 1943 was a unique one, when one side of a global conflict was in the moral right with the outcome still in doubt. Whether we know it or not, we all continue to benefit from the relative stability of the post WW2 era created by soldiers like Richard Earl St. John. You might even say that this Memorial Day weekend we all continue to walk in “high cotton.”
See the comments for the movie Greyhound, your Memorial Day Roo Tale homework. “Cotton to it!” And we’ll see you Monday.
