That sixties era Yankee Manager Ralph Houk went from being a private to major during his four years in military service.
He was at the Battle of the Bulge and the Remagen crossing. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart.
And he still started Horace Clarke for four seasons at second base. He must of thought Yankee fans were Germans or something.
8 comments:
Clearly peace is harder than war. Well, when you're in a "rebuilding phase" that is.
One of the best "Bet you didn't know....."s.
Kid star Jackie Coogan won a DFC flying gliders in Burma in 1944. It was part of the second Chindit expedition and he'd landed a glider behind the Japanese lines and was assigned to pilot one which was going to be lifted out by tow plane.
Since gliders more or less crash-landed, the idea of lifting one out again was considered pretty hairy. It had been tried in the States, but this was the first time in combat.
Mirabile dictu, it worked.
Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth were both draft dodgers. As was Micky Mantle.
I don't blame them, it was the New York Yankees.
Bob Feller enlisted on December 8, 1941, becoming the first Major League Baseball player to do so following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7.
And he wasn't a Yankee.
When the Gulf War started I was 27. Still young (and thin) enough to enlist. Our little town has about 3000 people in it. The company I worked for had 15 employees. Three of our workers had to deploy when the local National Guard unit was called up.
The town sent them off with colors. Everyone lined the streets to wave goodbye to our friends, family, coworkers--our heroes--go off to war. As we waited, everyone spoke in hushed tones. It was genuinely creepy. A coworker said to no one, "My mom tells me stories about WWII like this."
Just before the unit went by, we heard music playing. Some local in a pickup truck that was about 40 or 50 years old drove through town. He had a single loudspeaker mounted to the roof and was playing the chicken version of Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." As he disappeared down the parade route someone commented, "All we need is about 50 guys like that to send over there."
One of my best friends was in that group. He said that he appreciated the send-off. It's what you do in a time like that. What got him choked was seeing a group of kids at the elementary school. The school is up on a hill, about three blocks off the main street. The kids were holding up signs you couldn't read from that distance, waving their little hands off. You wouldn't notice them unless you were looking to see them. That's when he broke down.
In all seriousness, as I stood there, I pondered whether or not I had a duty to sign up. It was a struggle that convenience eventually won. I wish now that at some point in my life, I had served in the military. Thanks to every one of you who did.
Don't forget all of our gay veterans, who fought valiantly for our liberties.
They fought in silence.
Silence so deafening.
In a deep dark closet, full of fear.
tits.
And the dyke veterans who are very butch and dykey.
With short hair on top and long in the back.
They could kick all of our asses.
Dykes.
Veterans.
Dyke Veterans.
Beaver Bumper, carpet munchers, dildo wearers and lovers of whale watches.
Good perspective Titus.
My Uncle Dom was almost left for dead on the Bulge battlefield. He spent 6 months in a London hospital, came home and ran the family restaurant biz for 40 years.
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