Baseball Goes to War: From Ballfield to Battlefield

As one might deduce from the title, this book is about Baseball and war, or more specifically, where the two intersect. In two world wars and a "police action" in Korea, American men were subject to being drafted into the US military for service during the war. This draft was designed to induct men, at least in theory, from all levels of society, and professional baseball players, and other athletes were not exempted.

That is not to say that every ballplayer was drafted. Many didn't wait to be called up, choosing instead to enlist, some even before America's entry into the war. They served as soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, in the muddy trenches of the Meuse-Argonne, in the skies over France, and in rescuing the "lost battalion". They stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, battled the Germans in the freezing snows at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge, and witnessed the two flag-raisings atop Mount Suribachi.

Some like Jerry Coleman and Ted Williams would serve in two wars, some would be taken as prisoners of war, some would be injured or killed, and one would be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Some would play baseball on military teams overseas, entertaining the troops in combat zones. Others would play stateside boosting the morale of civilians at home. All would sacrifice. Some would make the ultimate sacrifice.

They came from the Major, Minor and Negro Leagues, as baseball was segregated until 1947 when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, a year before President Harry S. Truman desegregated the US armed forces by Executive Order 9981 on July 26. 1948. Even in war, opportunities for African Americans to serve were limited. 21 Black American ballplayers died serving their country during WW II, sixteen in a plane crash on Iwo Jima.

Within these pages are the stories of the remarkable men of baseball, many in the Baseball Hall of Fame, who when their country called, answered that call. Within these pages are legends like Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Whitey Ford, Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, Peewee Reese and Yogi Berra. Others, not so well known, are also compelling.

Lost in the legends and stats are the stories of men who left the ball field for the battlefield. They are stories worthy of telling.