SHOOTIN' THE BREEZE - This was the first game played at Wembley Stadium

Charlie Brod remembers because he was there.

It was 1945 and German V-1 and V-2 rockets fell across Great Britain on a regular basis, so frequent that residents no longer looked for shelter when sirens sounded the alarm.

"They had become so used to the bombardment that they just stood their ground and figured if it was their time, so be it," Brod recalled.

He was a member of the U.S. Army Air Corps stationed at Wharton Air Base, near Black Pool, England, and was scheduled for a leave, and decided to go to London.

"I just wanted to meet those people who had been under this constant bombardment from the German rockets for so long," he recalled.

Like many American men, he enlisted in the armed forces the day after the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, when the United States officially entered World War II.

He wanted to be a pilot, but the Air Force had other plans for him. His job at Wharton was to help arm U.S. planes, fitting them with .50-caliber machines guns and bombs. The planes were flown to Wharton without those vital wartime accessories because that would have made them too heavy.

It was his job to make sure that the planes were made battle ready before facing the Germany Luftwaffe in the skies over Europe.

While on leave in London, he met Molly Steele and her family. Brod recalled dating the young lady and attending the first American football game at Wembley Stadium with her. It was a game pitting Brod's 8th Air Force against the United States Army European champion.

At age 91, Brod can't remember who won the game, but does remember that it was the first time that an American-style football game was played in the fabled soccer stadium.

American troops, to relieve the stress and tension of the war, formed football teams and held championships for "bragging" rights.

"I don't really remember, but I think the Eighth won the game," said Brod.

He went to London just to find out how human beings could cope with constant rocket bombardment and found out first-hand.

"I remember being with Molly when rockets started falling near us," said Brod. "She didn't run, but she quivered visibly. It was horrible what those people were going through. I actually saw the V-1's heading in and they made a peculiar sound. There was one time when I literally got knocked out of my bed by rocket fire."

After the war, Brod was honorably discharged from the armed services and returned to the states and used the GI bill to go to college. He entered business for a time, then decided to get his master's degree from Pennsylvania State University.

After that, he decided to teach, and then entered school administration. He was the principal at Lincoln High School for 14 years, later returned to teaching and retired in 1990.

He and his wife, Florence, have been married for 60 years and still live in Cumberland.

The New England Patriots played in Wembley Stadium on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game that was essentially designed to promote the National Football League abroad.

It wasn't even the same Wembley Stadium where Brod watched the first U.S. football game played. Wembley was reconstructed at a cost of $1.97 billion, the renovation being completed in 2005, and it remains primarily a soccer venue.

Brod said he would be watching the Patriots on television. He's a huge New England fan and still enjoys the Boston Red Sox.

"I remember growing up in Brighton, we would go to the Red Sox game and I would get bleacher seats for 25 cents," he said. "I plan on watching the Patriots game in London, and maybe living a little bit of the past at the same time."

Somehow, in the broad scope of things, the NFL game played Sunday pales in comparison to the importance of what happened at the famed stadium 64 years ago.

Here n' There

* Silly me. I thought the unofficial Catholic championship battle was between Boston College and Notre Dame. And then Patrick Kennedy comes along.