Aug. 25, 2005
FRESNO, Calif.- The Fresno State athletics department is scheduled to honor Otis Vincent Tolbert, a Navy Lieutenant Commander killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon, during the Bulldog's season opener against Weber State on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Bulldog Stadium.
Tolbert, a native of Lemoore, Calif., was a four-year letterwinner and standout defensive end for the Fresno State football team from 1980-83. A 1980 graduate of Lemoore High School, Tolbert went on to Fresno State and eventually graduated in 1985 with a degree in criminal justice.
Tolbert's wife, Shari, and the couple's three children- Amanda, Brittany and Anthony- will be presented with a memorial plaque to be unveiled at the north end flagpole during a halftime ceremony.
"Otis was always very proud of his days as a Bulldog," said Shari Tolbert. "We are so thrilled that the athletics department is honoring him in this way. He would be proud to have his name next to the flag that he lost his life defending. Otis loved being a Bulldog and it would have meant so much to him to be honored in this stadium by Coach Sweeney."
Tolbert, 38, was commissioned as an Ensign at Officer's Candidate School in Newport, R.I., in 1989 and eventually earned the rank of Lt. Cmdr. In April 2000, he was assigned to the Washington, D.C., area and later served under the Director of Naval Intelligence, Admiral Porterfield in Intelligence Plot.
Regarded throughout the Lemoore community as an American hero, Tolbert was working in the C corridor on the first floor of the Pentagon when the hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into his office in the Department of Defense building in Arlington, Va. He was one of 125 Pentagon personnel killed or unaccounted for in the terrorist attack. Tolbert was buried Sept. 27 with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Tolbert's legacy has been well-documented around the Valley, as a portion of Highway 98 that runs through Lemoore is named in his honor as "Lt. Cmdr. Otis Vincent Tolbert Highway." The portion of highway that bears Tolbert's name originates at Lemoore High School and ends at the Lemoore Naval Air Station. In addition, the university has a tile dedicated to Tolbert in the Smittcamp Alumni House that reads:
In Memory Of
Sails Set To The Sky
Lt. Cmdr. Otis Vincent Tolbert
Fresno State Alumnus
The Pentagon
September 11, 2001
The Fresno State Alumni Association also dedicated a tile in Tolbert's honor that has been placed in Bulldog Walkway, located at the north entrance of the Save Mart Center.
