Remembering Baseball’s Dead of World War II on Memorial Day
May 30, 2010 by Gary Bedingfield · 3 Comments
We don’t celebrate Memorial Day in Scotland. We have a day for military veterans in November called Remembrance Day, just like you have Veterans Day, but nothing at this time of year. I think we should. So, until our government listen to my advice and make it happen, I’m going to share yours.
Obviously, when thinking about the sacrifices made during WWII, I think about the 133 professional baseball players who never came home. When you consider that 416,800 American servicemen died during the war, 133 seems a very small percentage. In fact, it equates to 0.03%. But how do you measure the lives of men in percentages? The simple answer is you can’t. Every one of the 416,800 who died is remembered by someone, and the 133 ballplayers are forever remembered by me. Their names are etched in my memory. I see their smiling faces in old photographs; their carefree looks, their sweat-stained flannel baseball uniforms worn with immense pride. No doubt they wore the uniform of the United States armed forces with similar pride.
So, here are the names of the 133 professional baseball players who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War II. Are you listening MLB? How about doing something for these guys? It’s been over 60 years now.
Jerry M. Angelich
Herman A. Bauer
Fred W. Beal
Constantine G. “Gus” Bebas
Hugh P. Bedient, Jr.
Leonard E. “Link” Berry
Keith F. Bissonnette
W. Davis “Buddy” Blewster
Joseph S. Boren
Charles W. “Chuck” Bowers
Forrest V. “Lefty” Brewer
Edward A. Brock
Murrill J. Brown
Eldred “Whitey” Burch
George W. Chandler, Jr.
Floyd E. Christiansen
Frank J. Ciaffone
Ordway H. “Hal” Cisgen
Clarence Clayton
Howard W. DeMartini
Harold B. “Hal” Dobson
Norman J. Duncan
Louis E. Elko
Charles “Chatty” Etherton, Jr.
Charles H. “Herb” Fash
Frank Faudem
John H. Fessler
Ernest B. Ford, Jr.
Gene Gabrych
George Gamble
Robert W. Gary, Jr.
Elmer J. Gedeon
Conrad W. “Connie” Graff
Alan S. Grant
James M. Grilk
Robert J. Gruss
Frank C. Haggerty
William F. “Bill” Hansen
William J. “Billy” Hebert
Manuel P. “Nay” Hernandez
Robert K. Hershey
Roswell G. Higginbotham
Ernest J. Holbrook
Robert D. Holmes
Gordon E. Houston
Ernest Hrovatic (Hrovatich)
Harry N. Imhoff, Jr.
Frank D. Janik
Ardys B. “Art” Keller
Stanley P. Klores
Carlyle J. “Curly” Kopp
Harry B. Ladner, Jr.
Walter E. Lake
Harlan D. Larsen
Felix A. Little
Walter G, “Whitey” Loos, Jr.
Andrew J. “Jack” Lummus, Jr.
Theodore C. “Ted” Maillet
Dom P. Malchiodi
William A. Marzalek
Henry Martinez
John W. “Duck” McKee
Paul V. A. Mellblom
George A. Meyer
Louis I. Miller
Joseph T. Moceri
John T. “Jack” Moller
Walt Navie (Walter J. Nawiesniak)
Jack A. Nealy
Edward S. Neusel
William F. “Bill” Niemeyer
Henry S. “Hank” Nowak
Harry M. O’Neill
Joseph M. Palatas
Jack H. Patterson
Metro Persoskie
Charles R. Pescod
John J. “Joe” Pinder, Jr.
Henry R. “Bob” Price
Luster Pruett
Ernest R. Raimondi
John J. Regan
Charles J. “Pete” Rehkamp
Joseph W. Rodgers
Milton “Rosey” Rosenstein
Michael L. Sambolich
Glenn F. Sanford
William A. “Bill” Sarver
Walter J. Schmisseur, Jr.
Robert C. “Bob” Schmukal
Edward N. Schohl
Franklin C. Schulz
Carl H. “Kappy” Scott
Marcel L. “Major” Serventi
Donald R. Shelton
Harold H. Sherman
Jack C. Siens
Arthur H. “Art” Sinclair
John M. “Mason” Smith
Norman K. Smith
Marshall M. Sneed
Rodney L. Sooter
William B. “Billy” Southworth Jr.
Earl V. “Lefty” Springer
Gene Stack (Eugene F. Stachowiak)
Donald A. Stewart
Alvin “Bus” Stiewe
Sylvester H. “Syl” Sturges
Fredric W. Swift
Johnny P. Taylor
Steve L. Tonsick
James Trimble III
Edgar W. Tuttle
Wirt B. “Beecher” Twitchell, Jr.
Lou Vann (Luigi G. Varanese)
Joseph Vecchio
Armando J. “Pete” Viselli
Arthur C. Vivian, Jr.
Elmer J. Wachtler
Leo M.H. Walker
Roman E. “Chipper” Wantuck
James J. Whitfield
Richard L. “Dick” Williams
Lester R. Wirkkala
Stanford G. Wolfson
Thomas J. Woodruff
Alan Wray (Alan W. Lightner)
Elmere P. “Elmer” Wright
Frederick J. Yeske
Marion P. “Spud” Young
Peter J. Zarrilla
Lamar A. “Dutch” Zimmerman
John J. Zulberti
George C. Zwilling
Today, in a quiet suburb of Glasgow, Scotland, these fallen ballplayers are remembered.
Website: www.baseballinwartime.com
Blog: Baseball in Wartime Blog
Baseball’s Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players Who Died in Service
As an Air Force Vietnam War retired veteran and long time fan of baseball thank you for your contribution to the history of the game of baseball. I was shocked to see some of the names.
May they rest in eternal peace.
Continue researhing and writing for us the fans who can learn so much of the game of baseball.
Thank you for this website and for keeping alive the names of the ballplayers who gave their lives for us 60 years ago. My Godfather, Edward Shannon Neusel, is on this list.He is buried in St. Louis, Mo. It was gratifying to see his name here.
Sincerely, Alex Koch
Thank you for all your work. I would love to buy the book.
John W. “Duck” McKee was my grandmother’s first husband. He obviously didn’t make it back from war and a few years later she married my grandfather. He was the love of her life. She is buriedn hihim in Greenwood cemetary Atlanta, Ga.
Thanks again!