Boom times: Cannon to fire after touchdowns at home football games

Sept. 17, 2009

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Army ROTC and athletics department officials at the University of Kansas have arranged to fire a 75mm cannon each time the KU football team scores a touchdown or field goal in Memorial Stadium this season.

Officers will test the Howitzer cannon at noon Friday, Sept. 18, in preparation for its debut at the KU-Duke game Saturday, Sept. 19, which is also KU Football Armed Forces Appreciation Day.

Saturday’s game begins at 11 a.m. (CDT).

The Kansas Army National Guard is loaning the Army ROTC the Howitzer, the type of artillery cannon often used in ceremonial events as well as on the sidelines of college football games. Soldiers of B Battery, 1-61 Field Artillery Battalion, several of whom serve in the Kansas Army National Guard and are full-time students at KU and cadets in KU’s Army ROTC program, will fire the cannon.

Army Capt. William Chuber is supervising the cannon’s use. Chuber is a member of the Kansas Army National Guard and an instructor for KU’s Army ROTC program.

The cannon will be set up in a roped off area adjacent to the football practice facility. It will be in the stadium for all home games this season.

Army cadets assisting Chuber will be Joseph Adam Kinsey, KU senior from Cimarron, and Philip Michael Loth, a MidAmerica Nazarene University student in KU’s ROTC program.

Kinsey is the son of Michael and Glenda Kinsey of Cimarron and a Cimarron High School graduate. Loth is the son of Peter and Valerie Loth of Olathe and a graduate of Christ Preparatory Academy in Kansas City, Kan.