Baseball in Wartime - In Memoriam

In Memoriam - World War II

Those Who Died That Others Might Be Free

Over the past few years 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.

Click here to see list of players who died during the Korean War

List and biographies last updated: December 11, 2009

234 names on this list (2 major leaguers, 128 minor leaguers, 2 minor league umpires, 35 collegians, 20 semi-pros, 45 amateurs, 7 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
Gus Bebas	Minor League	US Navy	Plane Crash	PACIFIC	July 19, 1942
Hugh Bedient Jr	Minor League	USAAC	Plane Crash	USA	June 17, 1940
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
Buddy Blewster	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	October 22, 1942
Joe Boren	Minor League	US Navy	Plane Crash	Caribbean	July 12, 1942
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
Lou Elko	Minor League	USMC	Military Accident	USA	April 2, 1944
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 12, 1945
John Fessler	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 10, 1944
Ernest Ford	Minor League	USMC	Plane Crash	USA	May 4, 1945
Gene Gabrych	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	July 5, 1944
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
Bobby Gruss	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	August 19, 1944
Frank Haggerty	Pro Contract	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	September 23, 1943
Bill Hansen	Minor League	US Army	Died from Wounds	ETO	January 1945
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	July 31, 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
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	US Navy	Plane Crash	USA	July 21, 1943
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
Harlan Larsen	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	July 30, 1945
Alan Lightner	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 12, 1945
Felix Little	Minor League	US Navy	Plane Crash	PACIFIC	December 18, 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
Dom Malchiodi	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	ETO	May 31, 1945
Bill Marzalek	Minor League	US Army	Military Accident	USA	October 6, 1942
Henry Martinez	Minor League	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	January 5, 1945
Duck McKee	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	March 6, 1945
Paul Mellblom	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 14, 1945
George Meyer	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 15, 1945
Lou Miller	Minor League	USAAF	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	March 3, 1943
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
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
Luster Pruett	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 11, 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
Milt Rosenstein	Minor League	US Army	Died of Wounds	PACIFIC	November 28, 1944
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
Don Shelton	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	September 15, 1944
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

Rod Sooter	Pro Contract	USAAF	Plane Crash	ETO	February 1, 1946
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
Ed Tuttle	Minor League	US Navy	Plane Crash	USA	June 11, 1942
Wirt Twitchell	Minor League	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	July 1944
Lou Vann	Minor League	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	May 18, 1944
Pete Viselli	Minor League	USAAF	Plane Crash	PACIFIC	December 12, 1941
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	December 2, 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 Zarrilla	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 21, 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
Gilbert Carrell	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	December 24, 1944
Les Clotiaux	Semi-Pro	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	August 9, 1945
Rene Croteau	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	July 4, 1944
Sammy Crowns	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	March 28, 1945
Roger Dobbins	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIV	January 21, 1943
Frank Draper	Semi-pro	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 6, 1944
Don Dudding	Semi-Pro	USMC	Auto Accident	Pacific	November 24, 1944
Earl "Fritz" Guessford	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	August 27, 1944
Robert Hale	Semi-Pro	USAAF	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	October 24, 1943
Victor Hartline	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 21, 1945
John Loehrke	Semi-Pro	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	December 26, 1941
Vic Saltzgaver	Semi-Pro	US Army	Military Accident	MTO	July 22, 1943
Howard Shea	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	1943
William J Shepherd	Semi-Pro	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	June 9, 1944
Joseph Sullivan	Semi-Pro	US Army	Died from Wounds	MTO	July 16, 1943
Hilton "Tommy" Thompson	Semi-Pro	US Navy	Plane Crash	USA	June 1945

Amateur

Name

Experience

Service

Cause of Death

Location

Date

Hideo Akiyama	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	July 10, 1944
Liston Anderson	Amateur	RCAF	Plane Crash	ETO	July 30, 1943
George Atkinson	Amateur	Canadian Army	Died from Wounds	MTO	August 4, 1943
Howard Barnhart	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	October 30, 1944
Joe Barron	Amateur	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	March 19, 1945
Bob Burns	Amateur	US Army	Died from Wounds	MTO	November 6, 1943
Roger Carroll	Amateur	Canadian Army	Killed in Action	ETO	March 8, 1945
Edward Collins	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	October 12, 1944
Tom Costello	Amateur	USAAF	Accident	ETO	June 7, 1943
George Dean	Amateur	RCAF	Killed in Action	ETO	February 7, 1944
Thornton Doig	Amateur	Canadian Army	Accident	ETO	June 21, 1945
Robert Dorn	Amateur	USMC	Died from Wounds	PACIFIC	August 1944
Robert Dubeau	Amateur	RCAF	Plane Crash	ETO	January 14, 1945
Frank Fabian	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	February 9, 1944
Harold German	Amateur	RCAF	Killed in Action	ETO	October 3, 1943
Joe Goodrich	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	April 8, 1945
Shigeo Igarashi	Amateur	US Army	Died from Wounds	MTO	December 3, 1943
Herman Jonasson	Amateur	RCAF	Killed in Action	ETO	February 20, 1944
John Judefind	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 8, 1944
Arthur Judges	Amateur	Canadian Army	Killed in Action	ETO	December 11, 1944
Fred Kameda	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	June 26, 1944
Goro Kashiwaeda	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	July 6, 1944

Blackie Kondo	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	November 4, 1943
Joe Laky	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	October 1, 1944
Duard Lawson	Amateur	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	August 9, 1945
William Maloney	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 7, 1944
Elmer Mertz	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 13, 1944
Mushie Miyagi	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	November 5, 1943
Mike Moroz	Amateur	Canadian Army	Killed in Action	ETO	August 9, 1944
Don Norton	Amateur	RCAF	Killed in Action	ETO	June 8, 1944
Al Nozaki	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	April 28, 1944
Con Radocy	Amateur	Canadian Army	Died from Wounds	ETO	July 28, 1944
Stan Reid	Amateur	RCAF	Killed in Action	ETO	March 5, 1945
Don Ross	Amateur	RCAF	Killed in Action	ETO	March 5, 1945
Joe Schneider	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	January 3, 1944
Chester Seipp	Amateur	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	August 9, 1945
Henry Shiyama	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	February 12, 1944
John Shuler	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	May 18, 1944
Basil Smith	Amateur	Canadian Army	Died from Wounds	MTO	September 13, 1944
Albin Sumara	Amateur	Canadian Army	Killed in Action	ETO	November 1, 1944
Joe Takata	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	September 29, 1943
Masa Takeba	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	January 10, 1944
David Thomas	Amateur	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	February 22, 1945
Charles Weatherby	Amateur	RCAF	Killed in Action	ETO	April 11, 1944
Masaru Yamamoto	Amateur	US Army	Killed in Action	MTO	November 29, 1943
Mike Zima	Amateur	Canadian Army	Killed in Action	ETO	August 19, 1942

College

Name

Experience

Service

Cause of Death

Location

Date

Buell Bankston	Baylor	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	February 27, 1943
Alex Box	LSU	US Army	Died from Wounds	MTO	February 19, 1943
Raymond Burroughs	Abilene Christian	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	February 12, 1943
Joe Byrd	Baylor	USAAF	Killed in Action	MTO	November 8, 1942
John Campbell	Dickinson College	USAAF	Killed in Action	MTO	March 31, 1943
John Carroll	Alfred University	Unknown	Killed in Action	MTO	late 1942
Horace Carswell	Texas Christian	USAAF	Killed in Action	CBI	October 26, 1944
Andrew Curlee	Auburn	USAAF	Killed in Action	MTO	April 6, 1943
Tom Dillant	Keene Teachers College	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	March 17, 1942
Robert Fischer	Notre Dame	USAAF	Killed in Action	MTO	November 17, 1944
Arthur Greims	Washington College	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	December 10, 1944
Jack Griffin	University of Kansas	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	February 19, 1945
William Hanlon	Stanford	US Navy	Plane Crash	USA	December 1943
Neal Hugos	Kansas State	US Army	Died not in Battle	Unknown	Unknown
Dayle Klett	Iowa State	US Navy	Plane Crash	USA	Sept 17, 1943
Herb Korenko	Muhlenberg College	USAAF	Killed in Action	ETO	May 29, 1943
Harold Lind	University of Iowa	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	July 21, 1944
Bill MacCoy	Princeton	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	June 19, 1943
James Newberry	Texas A & M	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	August 14, 1944
Martin J O'Brien	Holy Cross	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	September 1944
John Ogden Jr	Swarthmore College	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	August 1944
Harlan Palmer	University of Wisconsin	USAAF	Plane Crash	PACIFIC	November 11, 1943
Mitchell Parks	Baylor	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	March 31, 1945
Emil Potzer	Rutgers	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	June 15, 1944
William Reckeweg	Dickinson College	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	February 1, 1945
Harold Reynolds	Western Michigan	US Navy	Plane Crash	Pacific	November 27, 1944
Bill Schmidt	Williams College	US Navy	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	November 24, 1943
Jimmy Scondras	Holy Cross	USMC	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	March 1945
Mark Sherwood	St Lawrence University	US Army	Died of Wounds	MTO	July 1, 1944
James Taylor	Dickinson College	USMC	Died of Wounds	PACIFIC	July 25, 1944
Tom Vickers	Rice	USAAF	Plane Crash	USA	August 17, 1944
Eugene Westover	Drury	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	January 1, 1945

High School

Name

Experience

Service

Cause of Death

Location

Date

Louis Elko	High School	US Army	Military Accident	UNKNOWN	UKNOWN
Dayle Klett	High School	US Navy	Plane Crash	USA	September 17
Buddy Knox	High School	USAAF	Killed in Action	PACIFIC	May 20, 1945
William Sands	High School	US Army	Killed in Action	UNKNOWN	1943
Bob Smith	High School	US Navy	Plane Crash	PACIFIC	June 14, 1942
Bill Walsh	High School	US Army	Killed in Action	ETO	March 13, 1945
Bill Walters	High School	USAAF	Baseball Injury	USA	1942
John Zayak	High School	US Navy	Plane Crash	USA	June 3, 1945

ETO means European Theater of Operations

MTO means Mediterranean Theater of Operations

CBI means China, Burma and India Theater of Operations

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