Baseball in Wartime - Whitey Burch

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Those Who Died That Others Might Be Free

Whitey Burch

Date and Place of Birth: 1918 Lee County, North Carolina
Date and Place of Death: November 29, 1941 Albemarle, North Carolina
Baseball Experience: Minor League
Position: Infield
Rank: Private
Military Unit: 530th Signal Corps, US Army Air Corps
Area Served: United States

Whitey Burch was a promising young infielder applying his trade in the North Carolina farm leagues. His life would end in tragedy just seven months after entering military service.

Eldred "Whitey" Burch was born in 1918 in Lee County, North Carolina and lived in Mount Croghan, South Carolina. Burch played minor league baseball for just two seasons. In 1939 he was a shortstop with the Thomasville Tommies of the North League and batted .215 with 9 RBIs. In 1940, Burch remained in the North Carolina State League and split the season as a second baseman with the Lexington Indians and the Kannapolis Towelers, batting .291 with 39 RBIs.

Burch entered military service on April 16, 1941 and served with the 530th Signal Corps, US Army Air Corps at Drew Field, Florida. On Saturday afternoon, November 29, 1941, while on maneuvers in the Carolinas, Private Burch was driving an Army truck on the Morrow Mountain State park road near Albemarle, North Carolina, when the truck-overturned. Burch, just 23 years-old, was crushed by the steering wheel and died almost instantly. Two other servicemen were injured in the crash.

Whitey Burch is one of only three former professional baseball players to die in service before the United States had entered WWII.

Thanks to Paul Morrison, Heritage Room Manager, at Stanley County Public Library, North Carolina and Davis O Barker for press articles relating to this event. Thanks to R G "Hank" Utley for statistical information.

Added August 13, 2006. Updated June 19, 2008.

Whitey Burch's full biography will soon be appearing in
Professional Baseball Players Who Died in World War II.
A book written by baseballinwartime.com founder Gary Bedingfield
and published by McFarland, a leading American publisher
of scholarly, reference and academic books.
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