Ralph Robert Wensinger

West Point, 1959

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by John Brinson, 150 lb. Football Teammate on February 4, 2002:

Dear Cynthia Your Dad was a truly fine man. I am Class of 1958, and got to know him when he was Class of 1959, and starting Quarterback of our Fall 1957 150 lb. Football Team. It was our first year in the League, which had been dominated by Navy for several years. Ralph was a terrific athlete, and a true leader, always cool and confident. I played left tackle. In the Penn game, in the first half, I was griping at our running backs in the huddle for their less than sterling running, and one of them said to me "why don't YOU run the ball?". That shut me up - for the moment. But at half-time, your Dad grabbed me as we went into the locker room, and said "you were right, John, they were tripping all over themselves ... let's sneak into the shower and rehearse a play, and whenever you're ready in the second half, I'll call your play, and you can run the ball. Midway thought the third quarter, on the Penn 44 yard line, I told Ralph I was ready. Nobody knew what was going to happen. He called a sweep to the right, broke the huddle, grabbed the fullback, and said "go play left tackle". Ralph took the snap, and pitched out to the right to me. I had never run the ball before, except in tackling practice, but I had a good coach in Ralph. He calmly talked me around right end - "slow down John...wait for your blockers" and then, "got to block now, you're on your own", and then he wiped out a tackler, and I headed for the goal line, but finally was caught and tackled on the 7 yard line. We gained 37 yards! The coach didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He sat me on the bench for the rest of the game. Ralph was not benched - he was...NEEDED! He had a great sense of humor, too, as this story tells you. You probably know that your Dad won the Navy Game for us, giving all of us something to brag about forever. First year in the league, beat Navy and won the Championship! With 4 minutes on the clock, we got the ball on the Navy 43 yard line. Ralph was cool and calm as he called one running play after the other - 3 yards, 4 yards, 6 yards, 4 yards - down to the Navy goal line. Time was running out. Ralph called a quarterback sneak, and scored. The point was good, and we won 7-0. He was our leader, and he gets the credit for that great victory. I know you will hear from many others who were touched by your Dad, and who knew him better than I. But, I will never forget him. Best wishes, John Brinson, C-2, 1958

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