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Those Who Died That Others Might Be Free

Joe Pinder

 

Date and Place of Birth: June 6, 1912 McKees Rock, Pennsylvania
Date and Place of Death: June 6, 1944 Normandy, France
Baseball Experience: Minor League
Position: Pitcher
Rank: Technician 5th Grade
Military Unit: HQ Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, US Army
Area Served: European Theater of Operations

 

"Almost immediately on hitting the waist-deep water, he was hit by shrapnel. He was hit several times and the worst wound was to the left side of his face, which was cut off and hanging by a piece of flesh."

Second Lieutenant Lee Ward W Stockwell

 

 

One of his finest seasons was with the Sanford Lookouts in the Florida State League in 1939, where he posted a 17-7 won-loss record and a 3.92 ERA with the league champions.

 

Pinder entered military service on January 27, 1942. The year before that he had been with the Fort Pierce Bombers in the Florida East Coast League and the Greenville Lions in the Alabama-Florida League. He was 11-9 with the Bombers and 6-2 with a 2.48 ERA with the Lions.

 

Pinder trained with the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division at Camp Blanding, Florida and Fort Benning, Florida. The division left for England in August 1942 and took part in the Allied landings of North Africa at Algeria and the battles against Rommel's Afrika Korps in Tunisia. In July 1943, Pinder was part of the Allied landings at Sicily.

 

By November 1943, Technician 5th Grade Pinder was back in England preparing for D-Day - the Allied invasion at Normandy.

 

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the 16th Infantry Regiment were in the first wave of troops to assault the beaches at Colleville-Sur-Mer - more familiarly known as Omaha Beach. Pinder was aboard a landing craft of men from the 16th Infantry's Headquarters Company. For Pinder it was a special day - his birthday. He was 32.

 

As the landing crafts approached the beach the Germans opened fire with artillery, mortars and machine-gun fire. An artillery shell exploded close to Pinder's landing craft, tearing holes in the boat and injuring many of the men inside. Panic set-in as the vessel filled with water and began to sink. Still 100 yards from the beach the ramp was dropped and the men of HQ Company were instantly met with a hail of deadly accurate machine-gun and small arms fire, killing many outright as they struggled to reach the shore.

 

Despite the chaos and carnage, Pinder remembered his duties. He grabbed the vital radio equipment, placed it on his shoulder and made his way down the ramp and into the waves.

 

With bursts of gunfire all around him it was only a matter of time before he was hit. A bullet clipped him, causing the veteran soldier to stumble, but he didn't stop. Pinder made it to the beach, dropped the radio and returned to the water to retrieve more radio equipment. Again he was hit - a serious wound to his face and then bullet wounds to his legs. But still he couldn't be stopped. In all, Pinder returned to the water three times to recover the vital equipment. Already weakened by heavy loss of blood, he was hit by enemy fire once more - this time it was fatal.

 

On January 4, 1945, Technician 5th Grade Pinder was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty."

 

"The indomitable courage and personal bravery of T/5 Pinder was a magnificent inspiration to the men with whom he served," proudly claimed his citation.

 

On May 11, 1949, the US Army barracks at Zirndorf, Germany, was renamed Pinder Barracks in Joe Pinder's honor. Although the barracks have since been torn down, a park now occupies the area - it is known as Pinder Park.

 

 

Joe Pinder, who along with Jack Lummus are the only professional baseball players to receive the Medal of Honor in WWII, is buried at Grandview Cemetery in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, where a monument was erected in his honor in October 2000. Fifty-five years after his death, fourteen members of Pinder's family and many local dignitaries attended the ceremony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Steve for sharing the Joe Pinder signature above.

 

Added August 23, 2006. Updated February 5, 2007.

 

Copyright © 2008 Gary Bedingfield (Baseball in Wartime). All Rights Reserved.