Iwo Jima Vets to Be Featured on TODAY's 'Together We Make Football', Today

Tomorrow's "Together We Make Football" segment on TODAY features the story of south Texas area HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL teammates and Marines Harlon Block and Glen Cleckler.

In 1943, Block and Cleckler were two of eight Weslaco, Texas HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL players to graduate early and join the Marines. During a chance encounter on leave a few days before their deployment to Iwo Jima in 1945, Corporal Block handed Private Cleckler his cherished Marines ring, as he sensed he might not make it home. Weeks later, Block was IMMORTALIZED as one of the six men photographed in the famous flag-raising photo at Iwo Jima. Six days after, he was killed in action.

Clecker, now 91, wore Block's ring every day before donating it to the Marine Military Academy just miles from their hometown. An Iwo Jima monument now graces the campus of Marine Military Academy, fifty yards from the south end zone of the stadium, and only a few feet away from the grave of Corporal Harlan Block.

Sunday Night Football, television's No. 1 primetime show, continues this Sunday, Nov. 8, when the Dallas Cowboys host the Philadelphia Eagles. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET with Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

ABOUT "TOGETHER WE MAKE FOOTBALL"

The National Football League and NBC present weekly segments on TODAY for "Together We Make Football," an invitation to anyone inspired by the game of football - whether as a player at any level, coach or a fan - to share their story for a chance to win a trip to SUPER BOWL 50.

The campaign will unfold weekly throughout the NFL season with segments airing every Friday on TODAY.

The deadline for submissions ended Monday, and now a joint NFL and NBC panel will select five finalists whose stories will be turned into short features by NFL Films. The features will be unveiled weekly on TODAY beginning Friday, December 4 and the winning story will be announced live on TODAY on January 8, 2016.

This is the latest iteration of the "Together We Make Football" campaign that launched in 2013. Over the past two years, thousands of fans shared their stories of what football means to them. A select few had their stories told on TODAY and some even won trips to Super Bowl.

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