Kotys Product Commands Newly-Commissioned Ship
from Wilkes-Barre Sunday Independent, September 13,1987
In the fall of 1959, coach Nick Kotys huddled on the sidelines with his Coral Gables, Florida High School football Captain Robert Sutton. They were making important decisions for a season that for Kotys was among the best of many championships at the school.
"I had great confidence in Sutton but little did I realize that he would in later years be making many important decisions regarding the safety of our servicemen and our nation," said Kotys. This aspect came to mind on August 27, 1987 (18 years later) when Kotys and his wife met with Captain Sutton on deck of the U.S. Navy's $990-million guided missile cruiser, the USS Thomas Gates. They witnessed the commissioning of this cruiser at Penn's Landing, Philadelphia.
"It was a very special thrill," Kotys stated, "to see one of my boys assume such an important role at a time when our nation is undergoing some very stressful times, especially in the Persian Gulf Area.
'Sutton's appointment to that important post as captain of one of our nation's biggest cruisers in these trying times, shows that his peers are confident that they can count on him. Football makes men."
The Thomas Gates will be stationed at Norfolk, Virginia. It will operate with aircraft battle groups in threatening environments, protecting the fleet from air attacks with a variety of weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, ship launched torpedoes and anti-submarine rockets.
The ship is named after the late Thomas Gates who served as Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of Defense under President Ike Eisenhower.
Kotys and his wife are residing at their summer home at Hunlock Creek, PA; during the winter months they live in the Titusville, Florida area.
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