After a week of learning about the heroic sacrifices of Allied soldiers at Normandy, the Locust Valley High School Falcons and Cold Spring Harbor High School Seahawks team took to the gridiron on Sept. 23 in similar weather conditions to those on D-Day.
The game, the first of its kind played in the United States, kicked off with a ceremonial coin toss performed by Helen Patton, the daughter of General George Patton, as players donned red, white and blue jerseys. Both teams’ jerseys were signed by each Falcon and Seahawk during a ceremony on Sept. 21. The Falcons scored two late touchdowns on a Connor Geertgens strike to Michael Hancock and a fumble recovery by Michael DiLorenzo to win 20-8.
The Falcons and coach Michael Gilbert returned to the school gymnasium after the game in their waterlogged gear to receive the trophy from Ms. Patton.
The Remembrance Bowl is a flag football game played between the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France, the first community recaptured by the Allies on D-Day, to commemorate a game that was supposed to be played by American soldiers in December 1944, but was cancelled when the troops were redeployed to Belgium for the Battle of the Bulge. Helen Patton and Michelle Strauss of Patton Legacy Sports brought “The Game That Never Happened” to life in 2018.
The Locust Valley-based organization Operation Democracy helped form a bond between the hamlet and Sainte-Mere-Eglise after the war and the two communities became sister cities. Thankful for the aid, the mayor’s wife Simone Renaud wrote a poem entitled “Locust Valley” to mark the bond.
Locust Valley Central School District educators spent the summer tailoring a unit of World War II history to students from kindergarten to 12th grade, culminating in lessons the week of the Remembrance Bowl.