Part 2 of Honolulu Stadium
Charlie Wedemeyer Remembers
Charlie Wedemeyer Remembers
The subject of an Emmy Award-winning documentary, "One More Season," a made-for-TV movie, "Quiet Victory," and a moving biography, Charlie’s Victory, the Wedemeyers’ story is known to millions. A 1965 Punahou graduate, Charlie was a standout running back at Michigan State University. Disabled since the 1970s by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—ALS, or "Lou Gehrig’s disease"—he continues to coach high school football in Los Gatos, California, with the help of Lucy and his children, Carrie and Kale.
My earliest memories of the Stadium are of being down on the sidelines with my dad watching my oldest brother, Herman. He had brought over his college all-star friends from the mainland to play the post-season game that would become the Hula Bowl. I was only about three and oblivious to the fact that Herman was a Heisman Trophy contender. I was just focused on consuming fistfulls of boiled peanuts!
The Stadium seemed to be a gathering place for the entire island. As I grew older, watching my brother Kenneth play for the military became an obsession. I was mesmerized by his amazing quickness on the field! I had visions that someday I too could put on a football uniform and feel the excitement of carrying the ball. Every young boy’s dream was to play in that huge stadium.
In sixth grade I transferred from Kamehameha to Punahou and lived with Herman. My emotions were torn, especially when people called me "haole" and "traitor." But I’m glad I did or I might never have met Lucy!
Click
here to see Al Harrington celebrating a victory in Honolulu Stadium.