Don Steinbrunner

{{Infobox military person

| name = Don Steinbrunner

| image=Donald_Thomas_Steinbrunner.jpg

| caption=

| birth_date = {{birth date|1932|4|5|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Bellingham, Washington, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1967|07|20|1932|04|5}}

| death_place = near Quang Ngai City, Kon Tum Province, South Vietnam

|allegiance =United States

|branch =File:Seal of the US Air Force.svg U.S. Air Force

|serviceyears =1954–1967

|rank =15px Major

|unit =

|battles =Vietnam War{{KIA}}

|awards =20px Distinguished Flying Cross
20px Purple Heart

|module =

{{Infobox NFL biography

| embed = yes

| number = 56

| position = Tackle

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 3

| weight_lbs = 220

| high_school = Mount Baker Senior High{{cite news |url=https://news.wsu.edu/2007/05/29/a-hall-of-famer/ |publisher=Washington State University |title=A hall of famer |date=May 29, 2007 |accessdate=February 19, 2016}}

| college = Washington State

| draftyear = 1953

| draftround = 6

| draftpick = 71

| pastteams = * Cleveland Browns ({{nfly|1953}})

| highlights = * First-team All-PCC (1951)

| pfr = SteiDo20

}}

File:Don Steinbrunner Vietnam Wall name.jpg]]

Donald Thomas Steinbrunner (April 5, 1932 – July 20, 1967) was an American football offensive tackle who was one of only two American professional football players to die in the Vietnam War.

Early years

Born in Bellingham, Washington, Steinbrunner was an all-state athlete in football and basketball at Mount Baker High School, and graduated in 1949.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DG8KAAAAIBAJ&pg=6527%2C3758688|newspaper=Ellensburg Daily Record |location=Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=State all-star grid team named |date=December 13, 1948 |page=8 }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rnQKAAAAIBAJ&pg=6613%2C2644173 |newspaper=Ellensburg Daily Record |location=Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=Roland Kirkby, Don Steinbrunner lead prep poll |date=August 13, 1953 |page=6 }} He played both sports at Washington State College in Pullman, and was the captain of both teams. He was also a member of ROTC in college.

NFL career

Steinbrunner was selected in the sixth round of the 1953 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. He was an offensive tackle with the Browns in 1953,

initially cut in training camp but brought back after the fourth game,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qKEnAAAAIBAJ&pg=3716%2C3812345 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=Steinbrunner signs contract |date=January 20, 1954 |page=17}} and the Browns won the Eastern Conference with an 11–1 regular season record. Steinbrunner played in the 1953 NFL Championship Game at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, but the Browns lost 17–16 to the Lions.{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1953/12/28/page/49/article/lions-win-in-last-3-minutes-17-to-16 |newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune |last=Strickler |first=George |title=Lions win in last 3 minutes, 17 to 16 |date=December 28, 1953 |page=1, part 3}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BpZRAAAAIBAJ&pg=6041%2C1283574 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |last=Sell |first=Jack |title=Lions retain NFL title; edge Browns, 17–16 |date=December 28, 1953 |page=12}}

Military service

Steinbrunner left his professional football career in 1954 after only eight regular season games to fulfill his military requirement. With a lingering knee injury from his collegiate days and the Browns winning consecutive NFL titles in 1954 and 1955, he later opted to stay in the service.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HmVWAAAAIBAJ&pg=3708%2C2971254 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |last=Blanchette |first=John |title=American hero |date=October 5, 2001 |page=C1 }} He joined the U.S. Air Force, first in the air police and later as a navigator, and in between was an assistant football coach for four seasons at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

Steinbrunner was sent to Vietnam in 1966, and after an injury was offered a safer assignment, which he refused. Major Steinbrunner's plane, a C-123 Provider, was shot down by small-arms fire on July 20, 1967, during a defoliation mission spraying Agent Orange on the jungle forest canopy, killing all five crewmen aboard. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Long unrecognized as the first NFL player to be killed in action in the Vietnam War, Steinbrunner was honored by the Browns on November 14, 2004.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=X2dWAAAAIBAJ&pg=6896%2C951195 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |agency=Associated Press |title=Browns to honor Ex-Coug killed in Vietnam |date=November 12, 2004|page=2C }} Buffalo Bills' guard Bob Kalsu, a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army with the 101st Airborne Division, was killed in action on July 21, 1970.

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928013927/http://www.virtualwall.org/ds/SteinbrunnerDT01a.htm The Virtual Wall]
[http://www.profootballhof.com/news/don-steinbrunner-a-true-football-hero-revealed/ Pro Football Hall of Fame] – Don Steinbrunner: a true football hero revealed
{{Footballstats |nfl=2526463 |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |fox= |si= |pfr=SteiDo20 |dbf=STEINDON01 |rotoworld=}}
{{Find a Grave|9074873}}

Category:1932 births

Category:1967 deaths

Category:Sportspeople from Bellingham, Washington

Category:Players of American football from Washington (state)

Category:American football offensive tackles

Category:American men's basketball players

Category:Aviators killed by being shot down

Category:Cleveland Browns players

Category:Washington State Cougars football players

Category:Washington State Cougars men's basketball players

Category:Washington State University alumni

Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)