Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/6/16
Staff Report
The annual “Fallen Heroes Game” between La Salle and DeMatha Catholic (MD) will be held Friday at Latrobe Park at the Under Armour headquarters in Baltimore.
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Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion (left) with best friend Lt. (SEAL) Brendan Looney, USN
The game honors the memory of two true American heroes: First LT. Travis Manion (La Salle), who died in Iraq in 2007; and his best friend and roommate from the US Naval Academy, Navy SEAL, Lt. Brendan Looney (DeMatha), who died in Afghanistan in 2010.
When Travis died he was originally buried in a family plot near his hometown. However, after Brendan passed away, the decision was made to bury both men side by side at Arlington National Cemetery. The decision to do this made national news and was covered by all of the major networks.
The first “Fallen Heroes Game” game was played in 2011 at the Naval Academy. Game two was held in 2012 at La Salle, in 2013 the game was held at Catholic University in Washington D.C. in 2014 the game was held at Penn University’s Penn Park and in 2015 it was held at Anne Arundel Community College (MD).
Travis played lacrosse in high school and wrestled at Navy. Brendan played football and baseball at DeMatha. At Navy, he played football and lacrosse, and was a key member of the Navy team that went to the National Championship Game in 2004.
La Salle is 3-0 and ranked 5th by Phillylacrosse.com. DeMatha, of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference, is 3-5.
“The schools do a great job of honoring both fallen heroes and this game is good fellowship,” said La Salle coach Bill Leahy. “It’s a positive thing. What are the odds that two young men, best friends, would die serving their country and can be honored by us playing a lacrosse game?”
Admission and proceeds will be donated to Manion/Looney Foundations.
