John Daniel Foldberg (April 22, 1928 – May 30, 2002) was an American military officer and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He played as an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

for the Army Cadets at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. Army head coach

Earl Blaik Earl Henry "Red" Blaik (February 15, 1897 – May 6, 1989) was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at ...

rated him the best end he had ever coached. He was selected in the

1951 NFL Draft The 1951 National Football League Draft was held January 18–19, 1951, at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. The Baltimore Colts folded after the 1950 season, and the NFL placed their players in the 1951 NFL draft. This was the fifth year that th ...

, but pursued a 27-year military career. Foldberg served as an infantry officer in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Early life

John Daniel Foldberg was born in Texas on April 22, 1928.''Register of Graduates and Former Cadets of the United States Military Academy'', 1999, p. 4–214. He attended Sunset High School in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, where he played basketball as part of the 1944 state championship team. His older brother,

Hank Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...

, played football at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

before transferring to West Point where he was named a consensus All-American in 1946, and graduated from West Point in 1947.

West Point

Like his brother, Dan Foldberg also attended the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. He played football there as an end, and during the 1948 season, Foldberg was described as a consistently impressive player on what was a dominating Army team. The Cadets' only close game that year was a 14–13 victory over Penn. One source described the Army team as "the nearest thing to a paragon of perfection in the East." That same year, Foldberg was named a

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

second-team All-American. For his senior year in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

, Foldberg returned as the Cadet's only starting

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

and was named the

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. That year, he was named a first-team All-American by unanimous consensus. During the 1950 season, legendary Army head coach

called Foldberg the best end he had ever coach. Foldberg finished eighth in the vote for the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

, which is awarded annually to college football's most outstanding player. Foldberg was invited to participate in the 1950 Blue–Gray Classic all-star game, where he served as the captain of the Rebel squad. Foldberg also played on the Army lacrosse team as a

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

. The

United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the varsi ...

(USILA), the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

's governing body, named him a second-team All-American as senior in 1951. Foldberg graduated from West Point as a member of the Class of 1951.

Military career

Foldberg was selected in the 22nd round of the

by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

as the 261st overall pick, but remained in the Army as a career officer. He received his commission into the Infantry branch, and served in the 15th Infantry in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

from 1952 to 1953. Foldberg was then assigned as cadre at

Ranger School The United States Army Ranger School is a 62-day small unit tactics and leadership course that develops functional skills directly related to units whose mission is to engage the enemy in close combat and direct fire battles. Ranger training wa ...

, from 1954 to 1956, and

Airborne School The United States Army Airborne School – widely known as Jump School – conducts the basic paratrooper (military parachutist) training for the United States Armed Forces. It is operated by the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 507th Infantry Regime ...

, from 1956 to 1958. He returned to West Point to work as a tac officer from 1965 to 1967. Between 1967 and 1968, he served as the executive officer of 3rd Brigade,

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

, and the commanding officer of 1/501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. In the Republic of Viet Nam, he served as a battalion commander and the G3 operations officer in the 5th Infantry Division, and he was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

, and the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

. In 1978, having attained the rank of colonel, Foldberg retired from the military to

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

Death

Dan Foldberg died on May 30, 2002, at the age of 74.

References

External links

Who's Who
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', December 11, 1950. {{DEFAULTSORT:Foldberg, Dan 1928 births 2002 deaths All-American college football players Army Black Knights football players American football tight ends Players of American football from Texas American lacrosse players Army Black Knights men's lacrosse players Texas A&M Aggies football players Recipients of the Silver Star United States Army colonels United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Military personnel from Dallas