- Rutgers four year (1912-15) letter winner and future coach (1927-30, 1942-45) and athletic director (1951-62), Harry Rockafeller wrote back to the March 6, 1917 Targum, “I have been here at Fort Sill for the last two weeks studying machine guns and their use… The only danger will be the enemy artillery and if I’m lucky enough to dodge the big shells there ought to be some interesting tales when we return.” The Targum went on to report, “Many a former son of old Rutgers in service will be cheered by the weekly arrival of the Targum to remind him of past friends and scenes of good cheer. This sending of our weekly paper to the men in service was made possible by popular subscription from the student body and the first issue to be sent out will be this one.” A week later the paper printed another letter from overseas, “Our hospital here is a long way from the front. It is the last of the A.E.F. [American Expeditionary Force] to leave France when the war is done, as all the other hospitals drain into us… We got our football numbers of the Targum all right, but those are all we’ve had.” Matt Walker added, “Read the football number of the Targum last week. Don’t know who sent it, but I’m much obliged, though I don’t get much time to read or write.”
99 Years Ago in Rutgers Football History
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It's important to note that it would be another month before Woodrow"He kept us out of war" Wilson would ask Congress to declare war on Germany.Presidents no longer ask for declarations of war because the delay gives enemies time to hide WMD's.
But I do.
Thanks guys. Here's one more about "Rocky". Think about him when you find yourself on Rockafeller Road near the RAC:
The October 13, 1953 Targum reported that acting Rutgers athletic director Harry J. Rockafeller was visited by his old Army buddy and commanding officer who had just retired six months earlier – four star general James Van Fleet. The two met as football players, Rockafeller for Rutgers (1912-15) and Van Fleet for Army (1912-14). The two were together in the final major German defeat of World War I - the Meuse-Argonne Offensive with Van Fleet wounded five days before the Armistice was signed. Van Fleet stayed in the military but coached Florida in 1923-24 in his spare time. “Rockafeller and Van Fleet had corresponded together right along. But since the war started they wrote even more often. After the war the two men met many times, Van Fleet frequently visited Rutgers to inspect the ROTC…..” He had key roles in World War II. But during the Korean conflict President Harry Truman replaced Douglas MacArthur with Matthew Ridgway as Supreme Commander, Van Fleet was promoted to Ridgway’s spot. Truman later said Van Fleet was, “The greatest general we ever had. I sent him to Greece and he won the war. I sent him to Korea and he won the war.” Van Fleet died in 1992 at the age of 100½.
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