Today’s Star Spangled Salute honors Coast Guard Veteran and NFL Veteran Emlen Tunnell. Emlen was the first Black player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but before that he served in the Coast Guard during World War II. It was a service that credited him with saving the lives of two shipmates at two different times. It has been said that with Emlen, who died in 1975, comes a teachable moment of what he went through and the type of person he was. In honor of Emlen, on the Coast Guard Academy Campus you will find a Coast Guard Cutter and an athletic building bearing his name. Thank you for saving lives Emlen and THANK YOU for your service.
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