NStar Articles

This year's Army-Navy football game is raring to go, and we’re getting revved up for the game of the year. Last December, Navy boosted their cumulative lead over long-time rival Army Black Knights with another win, notching a total of 62 games in the win column versus the Black Knights’ 52 in their long and tumultuous history. The games are the stuff of legends, drawing crowds of 80,000 and up. There’s also a television audience of 7.57 million screaming fans tuning in. Even as exciting as the games? The uniforms.

If you’re visiting the Yard in the fall or the spring, you are in for a treat. Every weekday (minus Wednesdays) just before noon (weather permitting), the entire Brigade of Midshipmen (that is 4,400+ women and men in uniform) assembles at Tamanend Court, right in front of their massive dormitory, Bancroft Hall. This is Noon Meal Formation , and it is one of the USNA traditions that has been occurring here for over one hundred years. It is a must-see for any Naval Academy visit.

(Lt. Lopez is shown leading his platoon. A few minutes after this photo was taken, he sacrificed his life.)

A medal awarded posthumously is bittersweet. Recognizing bravery in the face of unimaginable danger, it is one of the greatest honors to bestow, a promise to never forget—and at the same time, an acknowledgment of a life lost too soon. So many of our notable graduates have achieved great things in service to our country, and when they have given their lives for that honor, we are extraordinarily grateful and extremely mindful of the meaning and poignancy of that sacrifice. First Lieutenant Baldomero Lopez is one such notable graduate.