Deceased Columbia graduate to be honored

David Hernandez remembers the day when he and his buddy, fellow Texan Randy Murff, saw the bright lights of New York City for the first time. He remembers how awestruck they both were, timid freshmen, being ushered around Times Square by their Columbia football teammates.

Ray Tellier remembers the third night of training camp, when he was trying to console Murff, a 300-pounder crying like a baby. He wasn't talking to him like a coach to a player, but like an uncle to a homesick little boy.

Hernandez -- a former wide receiver for the Lions -- and Tellier -- Columbia's head football coach -- remember how Murff overcame his fears and evolved into an excellent offensive lineman for the Columbia football team from 1993-96.

Hernandez and Tellier remember how Murff captained that great Lions team in 1996 that went 8-2 and finished second in the Ivy League, a minor miracle for a team that's had four winning seasons in its 46-year Ivy League history.

They remember how Murff would look up into the sky during practice sometimes, see a jet soaring overhead, giggle like a schoolboy, and say, "That's what I want to do with my life."

They remember how Murff, never the lightest on his feet, lost over 100 pounds after graduation just so he could meet the Air Force requirements to fly a fighter jet.

They remember the irony of Murff's life, both beautiful and bitter. How he met the girl of his dreams, also a Columbia graduate, on a mission in Korea after never bumping into her on campus.

They also remember that cold summer day when they heard the news. On June 12, Randy Murff crashed his F-16 fighter jet into a rice paddy in a mountainous region in Korea during a training mission.

He died at the age of 26.

"You can never appreciate when you see someone for the last time," said Hernandez, who kept in touch with Murff after they both graduated from Columbia in 1997. "I felt shock followed by sadness. He was one of the nicest guys I've ever met."

Nice was an understatement. You get the feeling Murff was the type of guy that loved everyone and was loved by all in return.

"He was one of the most upbeat guys I ever met," Hernandez said. "He was always joking around and having a good time.

"And on the field, he was the best player on our team."

Murff was, in fact, the team's best player, a three-year starter on the offensive line who was voted second team All-Ivy League his junior and senior years.

His accomplishments were not due to raw talent and skill, but were rather a testament to his hard work and motivation.

And those same qualities enabled Murff to pursue his dream after college.

"He was just a kid with great drive and determination," Tellier said. "He lost 100 pounds in less than a year, just so he'd be able to get into the cockpit. Everything he did, he did to the best of his ability.

"He was the kind of kid you love to have playing for you."

So less than a year after graduation, Murff enlisted in the Air Force and soon became a first lieutenant. He was assigned to the 35th Fighter Squadron, located at the Kunsan Air Base on the west side of the South Korean peninsula.

Things were going great for him. He'd accomplished his life dream of flying a fighter jet, he was doing well in the service and he was engaged to Courtney Kjos.

"He was a guy with so much going for him," Tellier said. "His life got taken away too short."

Nobody exactly knows what happened that dark, dreary night in June. Maybe the mountains popped up out of nowhere. Maybe he couldn't see through the clouds and the darkness. Maybe his plane was somehow shot down.

Nobody knows for sure, and that makes it difficult to accept. Hernandez and others take a bit of comfort knowing Murff died doing what he loved, but at the same time regret that he never got a chance to defend his country when it needed him the most.

"For anyone in the military, [the war against Afghanistan] is the reason why they enlist," Hernandez said. "The pride you get defending people as one of the elite people flying fighter jets... flying a training mission is not a way to go. I'd feel much safer knowing he was around defending our country."

"Randy was training to do exactly this," Tellier said. "He probably would have had the opportunity.... It was everything he'd been working for."

It really is a twisted tale of irony, the life of Randy Murff.

In commemoration of the life and football career of Murff, Columbia will rename the Captain's Award after him at a ceremony during halftime of Saturday's homecoming game against Penn.

Hernandez and Tellier will be there. So will Murff's family, fianc‚ and friends from Texas, his Columbia teammates and coaches and everyone who was ever touched by Murff's warm spirit.

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