Bob Kalsu will forever be 25.
Forever the fun-loving man’s man who exuded confidence. Forever the golfer who drove par-4’s and the bridge player in the old Washington House on the OU campus. Forever the leader, be it of Sooner footballers in the Orange Bowl or American soldiers at Firebase Ripcord in Vietnam. Forever missing from the life of the son who bears Kalsu’s name.
Kalsu now has been dead twice as long as he was alive. Kalsu died at Ripcord on July 21, 1970. Fifty years ago Tuesday.
“Wow,” said Steve Zabel, the rugged tight end who lined up next to Kalsu, the strongside tackle, during that fabulous Sooner season of 1967.