Veterans Day is a day that deserves more recognition then it really gets. The men and women of this country who have been a part of our nations military and have defended our freedoms deserve far more honoring then they get, but the amazing thing about them is that they don’t seek to be honored. They serve because they see a need and desire to protect our freedoms and rights for generations to come.
I know that this site and our Facebook page has veterans who follow us because I know some of them. Some have seen combat, and use baseball has a way to help with their healing.
As I’ve written before baseball has a rich history of honoring our heroes who served in the United States armed forces. Whether it is special ceremonies on Memorial Day or on the 4th of July teams make it a priority to applaud those who don’t seek applause but deserve it.
One of the biggest reasons for this is because of the history that baseball has of its players being a part of the armed forces.
Although other sports have individuals who have served and even sacrificed their lives for our county, the late Pat Tillman is a great example of an athlete hearing the call to serve, baseball has a long list of veterans, including many who are in the Hall of Fame.
Today I want to honor the men of baseball who have served our country but also standing out as a tremendous talent on the baseball diamond.
Here is the list of Hall of Fame baseball players who served in either WWI, WWII or the Korean War.
World War I
- Grover Alexander – Army
- Happy Chandler – Army
- Oscar Charleston – Army
- Ty Cobb – Army
- Eddie Collins – Marines
- Jocko Conlan – Navy
- Red Faber – Navy
- Warren Giles – Army
- Burleigh Grimes – Navy
- Harry Heilmann – Navy
- Waite Hoyt – Army
- George Kelly – Army
- Larry MacPhail – Army
- Rabbit Maranville – Navy
- Rube Marquard – Navy
- Christy Mathewson – Army
- Herb Pennock – Navy
- Sam Rice – Army
- Branch Rickey – Army
- Eppa Rixey – Army
- Bullet Rogan – Army
- Louis Santop – Navy
- Joe Sewell – Army
- George Sisler – Army
- Tris Speaker – Navy
- Casey Stengel – Navy
- Jud Wilson – Army
World War II
- Luke Appling – Army
- Al Barlick – Coast Guard
- Yogi Berra – Navy
- Willard Brown – Army
- Nestor Chylak – Army
- Mickey Cochrane – Navy
- Leon Day – Army
- Bill Dickey – Navy
- Joe DiMaggio – Army
- Larry Doby – Navy
- Bobby Doerr – Army
- Bob Feller – Navy
- Charlie Gehringer – Navy
- Joe Gordon – Army
- Hank Greenberg – Army
- Billy Herman – Navy
- Monte Irvin – Army
- Ralph Kiner – Navy
- Bob Lemon – Navy
- Ted Lyons – Marines
- Larry MacPhail – Army
- Lee MacPhail – Navy
- Johnny Mize – Navy
- Stan Musial – Navy
- Pee Wee Reese – Navy
- Phil Rizzuto – Navy
- Robin Roberts – Army
- Jackie Robinson – Army
- Red Ruffing – Army
- Red Schoendienst – Army
- Enos Slaughter – Army
- Duke Snider – Navy
- Warren Spahn – Army
- Bill Veeck – Marines
- Ted Williams – Marines
- Early Wynn – Army
Korean War
- Ernie Banks – Army
- Whitey Ford – Army
- Whitey Herzog – Army
- Eddie Mathews – Navy
- Willie Mays – Army
- Ted Williams – Marines
To all of our veterans thank you for what you have done. You have given years of your life and for some have given up their own life to uphold our freedoms and rights as American Citizens. Thank you.