BIW - In Memoriam

In Memoriam (Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice)

Those Who Died That Others Might Be Free

Gordon Houston Over the past few months I have been gathering information on baseball players who lost their lives in WWII. It has amazed me that the stories of these men - who made the ultimate sacrifice - has been lost for more than 60 years. At long last you can learn the often fascinating and heart-rending stories of these brave young men who played baseball at all levels - professional, semi-professional, college, amateur and high school.

As an amateur baseball historian I have always enjoyed uncovering long-forgotten stories and making them available to the public. Researching the lives of these baseball players, however, has been an amazing experience. I have countless, relatives, newspaper reporters, librarians and historians to thank and I have tried to do this on each player's page.

I hope you enjoy reading these biographies as much as I am enjoying researching and writing them.

Click on blue underlined names to read their complete biography.

If you can add to this list of baseball players who lost their lives in World War II or add further details about any of the players mentioned below then please use our submission form

Gary Bedingfield

garybed@gmail.com

www.baseballinwartime.com

List and biographies last updated: May 23, 2008

214 names on this list (2 major leaguers, 116 minor leaguers, 3 under pro contract, 1 umpire, 28 collegians, 15 semi-pros, 45 amateurs, 6 high schoolers)

Click on player's name to read their biography

Major League

Name

Experience

Service

Cause of Death

Location

Date

Elmer Gedeon	Major League	USAAF	Killed in Action	ETO	April 20, 1944
Harry O'Neill	Major League	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	March 6, 1945

Minor League

Name

Experience

Service

Cause of Death

Location

Date

Herman Bauer	Minor League	US Army	Died from Wounds	ETO	July 12, 1944
Fred Beal	Minor League	US Army	Died in hospital	USA	February 11, 1944
Leonard Berry	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	December 24, 1944
Keith Bissonnette	Minor League	USAAF	Killed in Action	CBI	March 28, 1945
Charles Bowers	Minor League	US Army	Died from Wounds	ETO	April 15, 1945
Lefty Brewer	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 6, 1944
Ed Brock	Minor League	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	February 26, 1945
Murrill Brown	Minor League	US Navy	Plane Crash	USA	September 1944
Whitey Burch	Minor League	US Army	Military accident	USA	November 29, 1941

George Chandler	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	September 28, 1942
Floyd Christiansen	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	July 10, 1945
Frank Ciaffone	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	Pacific	March 3, 1945
Ordway Cisgen	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	July 11, 1944
Edward Dalton	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	March 30, 1945
Howard DeMartini	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	December 24, 1944
Hal Dobson	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	May 23, 1943
Norman Duncan	Minor League	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	April 12, 1945
Louis Elko	Pro Contract	US Army	Military Accident	UNKNOWN	UKNOWN
Charles Etherton	Minor League	USMC	Suicide	USA	December 27, 1945
Herb Fash	Minor League	US Navy	Explosion	PACIFIC	February 21, 1945
Frank Faudem	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	January 1945
Ernest Ford	Minor League	USMC	Military Accident	USA	May 1945
George Gamble	Minor League	USAAF	Killed in Action	CBI	December 4, 1944
Bob Gary	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	February 4, 1944

Conrad Graff	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	July 8, 1944
Alan Grant	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	ETO	December 29, 1943
Jim Grilk	Minor League	USAAF	Auto accident	USA	July 16, 1942
Frank Haggerty	Pro Contract	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	September 23, 1943
Bill Hansen	Minor League	US Army	Died from Wounds	ETO	1944
Billy Hebert	Minor League	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	October 21, 1942
Nay Hernandez	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	March 22, 1945
Bob Hershey	Minor League	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	September 1943
Roswell Higginbotham	Minor League	US Navy	Died after operation	USA	May 23, 1943
Ernie Holbrook	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	December 16, 1944
Bob Holmes	Minor League	USMC	Died from Wounds	PACIFIC	February 22, 1945
Gordon Houston	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	February 10, 1942
Ernie Hrovatic	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 14, 1945
Harry Imhoff	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	1945
Frank Janik	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	April 29, 1945
Tony Janis	Minor League	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Art Keller	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	September 29, 1944
Stan Klores	Minor League	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	December 3, 1944
Curly Kopp	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	1944
Harry Ladner	Umpire	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	April 18, 1945
Walter Lake	Minor League	US Army	Died from Wounds	ETO	July 26, 1944
Whitey Loos	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	PACIFIC	January 16, 1944
Jack Lummus	Minor League	USMC	Died from Wounds	PACIFIC	March 9, 1945
Ted Maillet	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	April 7, 1945
William Marszalek	Minor League	US Army	Unknown	USA	October 7, 1942
Henry Martinez	Minor League	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	January 5, 1945
Duke McKee	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	1945
Paul Mellblom	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 14, 1945
Lou Miller	Minor League	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Joe Moceri	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 30, 1944
John Moller	Minor League	USAAF	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	August 8, 1943
John Munro	Minor League	Un known	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
George Myers	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	1945
Walter Navie	Minor League	US Army	Suicide	USA	October 9, 1945
Jack Nealy	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	Pacific	March 2, 1945
Ed Neusel	Minor League	US Navy	Died from Illness	USA	July 31, 1944
William Niemeyer	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	March 4, 1945
Hank Nowak	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 1, 1945

Joe Palatas	Minor League	USAAF	Died as POW	ETO	April 11, 1944
Jack Patterson	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	November 2, 1944
Metro Persoskie	Minor League	USAAF	Flying Accident	ETO	February 22, 1944
Charlie Pescod	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	December 2, 1944
Harold Phillips	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	August 9, 1945
Joe Pinder	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 6, 1944
Bob Price	Minor League	US Navy	Lost at Sea	PACIFIC	January 1945
Ernie Raimondi	Minor League	US Army	Died from Wounds	ETO	January 26, 1945
John Regan	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	CBI	May 25, 1944
Pete Rehkamp	Minor League	USAAF	Auto Accident	USA	September 9, 1942
Joseph Rodgers	Minor League	US Navy	Killed in Action	MTO	October 10, 1943
Michael Sambolich	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	November 4, 1944
Glenn Sanford	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	November 6, 1943
Bill Sarver	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	April 6, 1945
Charles Schaube	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	April 16, 1945
Walt Schmisseur	Minor League	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	February 20, 1945
Bob Schmukal	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	October 3, 1944
Eddie Schohl	Minor League	US Army	Died from Wounds	MTO	November 1, 1943
Frank Schulz	Minor League	USAAF	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	June 17, 1945
Carl Scott	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	July 26, 1944
Marcel Serventi	Minor League	US Army	Auto Accident	USA	July 5, 1941
Harold Sherman	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	CBI	July 7, 1945
Jack Siens	Minor League	US Navy	Plane Crash	ETO	September 10, 1943
Art Sinclair	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	January 26, 1944
John Smith	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	November 4, 1944
Norman Smith	Minor League	US Navy	Missing in action	PACIFIC	August 9, 1942
Marshall Sneed	Minor League	USAAF	Killed in Action	MTO	February 22, 1943

Billy Southworth Jr	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	February 15, 1945
Earl Springer	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 25, 1945
Gene Stack	Minor League	US Army	Natural Causes	USA	June 26, 1942
Don Stewart	Umpire	Can Army	Killed in bombing raid	ETO	March 13, 1941
Al Stiewe	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	February 15, 1945
Sylvester Sturges	Minor League	USAAF	Killed in Action	ETO	June 7, 1944
Fred Swift	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	April 23, 1944
Johnny Taylor	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	July 26, 1944
Steve Tonsick	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	March 28, 1943
Jimmie Trimble	Pro Contract	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	March 1, 1945
Wirt Twitchell	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	July 1944
Lou Vann	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	May 18, 1944
Art Vivian	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	ETO	August 1, 1944
Elmer Wachtler	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 5, 1945
Leo Walker	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	November 2, 1941
Roman Wantuck	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	June 16, 1944
Jim Whitfield	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	September 22, 1944
Dick Williams	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	February 21, 1945
Les Wirkkala	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	September 7, 1944
Stanford Wolfson	Minor League	USAAF	Killed in Action	ETO	November 5, 1944
Tom Woodruff	Minor League	US Navy	Lost at Sea	PACIFIC	1944
Elmer Wright	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 6, 1944
Fred Yeske	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	December 21, 1944
Marion Young	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	December 13, 1944
Peter Zarilla	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	August 9, 1945
Lamar Zimmerman	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	January 24, 1945
John Zulberti	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	January 1944
George Zwilling	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	March 31, 1943

Semi-Pro

Name	Experience	Service	Cause of Death	Location	Date
James Addison	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	October 21, 1944

Lou Alberigo	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 6, 1944
Jerry Angelich	Semi-Pro	USAAF	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	December 7, 1941
Les Clotiaux	Semi-Pro	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	August 9, 1945
Rene Croteau	Semi-Pro	US Army