When Jack Rittichier ā56 attended Ńż¼§Ö±²„ State, he was a big man on campusācaptain of the football and track teams, chair of the Pork Barrel (a campus entertainment) and an officer in the ROTC. āHe was James Dean and Marlon Brando all in one package,ā recalls former football teammate Allan Kaupinen ā57. āWhen he walked across campus, you noticed him.ā
Kaupinen has spent a good part of the last seven years making sure Ńż¼§Ö±²„ State remembers Jack Rittichierāand not just for his 90-yard touchdown run against Bowling Green that propelled Ńż¼§Ö±²„ State into its first bowl game, the 1954 Refrigerator Bowl in Evansville, Indiana.
That run made him a campus hero, but Rittichier became a national war hero, the only U.S. Coast Guard aviator killed in Vietnam when he was shot down during an heroic rescue mission in 1968.
The remains of Rittichier and his crew were recovered in 2002, and he was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in 2003.
The former Coast Guard pilot who relieved Rittichier in Vietnam, Jim Loomis, interviewed Kaupinen seven years ago for a book heās writing. They joined forces with the Coast Guard Aviation Association (CGAA) and Ńż¼§Ö±²„ State University Athletics to honor Rittichier at a reunion of the 1954 Refrigerator Bowl team and to rename the football teamās Most Valuable Player award after him in 2009. The CGAA funded a Rittichier memorial in Dix Stadium and later a bronze Heisman-like trophy (based on a sculpture titled āJackās Runā) given to the teamās MVP each year since 2014.
Linebacker Matt Dellinger ā16 (Clarkston, Mich.)āMid-American Conference (MAC) Distinguished Scholar Athlete, three-time Academic All-MAC Team and All-MAC Third Team this past seasonāreceived the Lt. Jack Columbus Rittichier Award this spring. āI hope to continue this legacy and make Jack proud,ā says Delllinger, who enlisted in the U.S. Navy in June and plans to become a Navy SEAL.
See for more on Rittichierās Coast Guard career.
View a video of the award presentation at .
Photo: Jim Loomis (left), retired Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander, and Allan Kaupinen ā57, representing the 1954 football team, traveled to Ńż¼§Ö±²„ State this spring to present the Rittichier Award to Matt Dellinger ā16 at a special ceremony in Dix Stadium.