This blog piece is so easy that it basically writes itself. Veterans Day is an annual federal holiday in the United States which is observed on November 11th to honor military veterans. Technically, the US government declared that the official spelling does not include the use of the apostrophe, so the grammar police can just relax about the absence of what is called the “possessive case”. I won’t get into the history lesson portion of Veterans Day, because plenty of others have already done that in much greater detail. Instead, I’ve chosen to focus on Stl. Cardinals who have served in the military. I’ve started a list below. Although the list is by no means comprehensive, I’m hoping that readers can contribute missing information until we have compiled a full list that honors veterans who served both this country and the “Birds on the Bat”. The roll call:
- Grover Cleveland Alexander – US Army 1918, Cardinals 1926-1929
- Pat Ankenman
- Bill Baker
- Johnny Beazley – US Air Force 1946, Cardinals 1941, 1942, 1946
- Vern Benson
- Buddy Blattner
- Al Brazle – US Army 1943-1945, Cardinals 1943, 1946-1954
- Jimmy Brown – US Military 1943-1945, Cardinals 1937-1943
- Walker Cooper
- Creepy Crespi
- Jeff Cross
- Murry Dickson
- Erv Dusak – US Army 1943-1945 , Cardinals 1941, 1942, 1946-1951
- Hal Epps
- George Fallon
- Herman Franks
- Hank Gornicki
- Johnny Grodzicki – US Army 1942-1945, Cardinals 1941, 1946-1947 => Wounded during the Battle of the Bulge (specifically at the Battle of Dead Man’s Ridge)
- Harry Gumbert
- Harvy Haddix
- Jim Hearn
- Fred Hutchinson – US Navy 1941-1945, Cardinals Mgr 1956-1958
- Billy Johnson
- Si Johnson
- Lou Klein
- Darold Knowles
- Jim Konstanty
- Ernie Koy – US Navy 1942-1946, Cardinals 1940-1941 => Once beat Jesse Owens in 100 yd dash with 5 yd headstart
- Howie Krist
- Max Lanier US Army 1945, Cardinals 1938-1946, 1949-1951
- Johnny Lindell
- Danny Litwhiler
- Whitey Lockman
- Peanuts Lowery
- Max Macon
- Jim Mallory
- Stu Martin
- Gene Mauch – US Army Air Force 1944-1946, Cardinals 1952
- Eddie Miksis
- Buster Mills
- Johnny Mize – US Navy 1943-1945, Cardinals 1936-1941
- Vinegar Bend Mizell
- Terry Moore
- Whitey Moore
- George Munger
- Stan Musial – US Navy January 1945 – March 1946, Cardinals 1941-1963
- Sam Nahem
- Ron Northey
- Mickey Owen
- Don Padgett
- Howie Pollet – US Military 1944-1945, Cardinals 1941-1943
- Ken Raffensberger
- Branch Rickey
- Don Richmond
- Lew Riggs
- Stan Rojek
- Hank Sauer
- Walter Sessi
- Bob Scheffing
- Carl Scheib
- Freddy Schmidt
- Clyde Shoun
- Ted Simmons
- Enos Slaughter
- Hal Smith – military duty in 1951, Cardinals 1956-1961
- Bob Stephenson
- Burgess Whitehead
- Harry Walker
- Lon Warneke
- Ernie White
- Hal White
- Hoyt Wilhelm – US Army 1942-1945, Cardinals 1957
- Babe Young
Consider this list a reference piece and a work in progress. I’ll be updating this list as time allows, but please feel free to reply with omissions and fresh information.
Sources used for this article include: Wikipedia, Baseball In Wartime, Baseball-Reference, and numerous personal websites dedicated to individual players. Where possible, I’ve verified information using 2 or more separate sources.
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