Bob Kalsu “I gave my word” Purple Heart cover

Bob Kalsu, an Oklahoma City native and All-American football tackle, was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in 1968. He had participated in the ROTC program, and after his first season of professional football, in which he was named rookie-of-the-year, he entered the U.S. Army as part of the 101st Airborne Division to fulfill his obligation.

Kalsu was offered an exemption from combat in Vietnam, which he flatly refused on moral grounds, not considering himself any more worthy of an exemption than anyone else currently engaged in the conflict. In July of 1970, he was killed in action, becoming the only active American football player to die in the Vietnam War.

The cachet features a black-and-white team photograph of Kalsu masked against a green army tent and surrounded by a camouflage border. It is accompanied by the insignia of the 101st Airborne and Kalsu's quoted reason for refusing his combat exemption. The postage is a Purple Heart "Forever" stamp (an honor Kalsu earned, along with the Bronze Star) and was canceled with the "James Robert (Bob) Kalsu Station" pictorial postmark from Del City, Oklahoma on February 5, 2016.