Baseball and Battlefields – 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment

With more than 100 military installations operating fiercely competitive sports programs for troops during World War II, North Carolina was a veritable gold mine of baseball talent. But when the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment Red Devils clinched the particularly coveted Camp Mackall championship during the summer of 1943, they had little idea that the next game they were to play would be 3,000 miles away amid the chaos and devastation of bomb-torn England.

The 508th, one of four regiments assigned to the 82nd “All American” Airborne Division, moved to Camp Mackall from Georgia at the end of 1942. Located west of Fayetteville in Scotland County, the 62,000-acre camp was a remarkable example of wartime construction. Completed in just four months, it featured heated barracks, five movie theatres, a hospital, and a three-runway airfield. It was named for Private John T. Mackall, the first American paratrooper to be killed during the war.

Baseball at Camp Mackall began with lazy afternoon games of catch during off-duty hours. Because of the encouragement those games provided, a camp league was soon established. The all-volunteer airborne forces consisted of men from different regions of the country, drawen, perhaps, as much by the $50 monthly hazardous duty bonus as by the thrill and honor of serving as a paratrooper. The 508th found it was rich in baseball talent.

Forrest V. "Lefty" Brewer

In additional to several players with semi-pro experience – among them colliery league pitcher Okey Mills of Crab Orchard, West Virginia, and second baseman Lee Reisenleiter of Brentwood, Missouri – the Red Devils were fortunate to have the services of some minor leaguers. John McNicholas was an outfielder in the Boston Red Sox farm system, Frank Shank – also an outfielder – had played in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization before military service, while shortstop Frank Labuda had played for the Ogden Reds. However, the most prominent minor leaguer was Forrest “Lefty” Brewer, a tall, lean Floridian, who had played three seasons in the Washington Senators’ organization before the war. He pitched a no-hitter in the Florida State League in 1938 on his way to compiling a 25-11 won-loss record that season, and was pitching for the Charlotte Hornets before entering military service in March 1941. Nevertheless, he is remembered for more than just his athletic talents.

“Lefty was my platoon sergeant all through the three tough months of basic training, and I cannot say enough about what a great guy he was,” recalled Bill Dean of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. “He even brought some culture into our lives during off-duty hours in the barracks. His favourite poem was Rudyard Kipling’s Gunga Din, and he would recite it with such gusto while cleaning his rifle or shining his boots that most of us rookies would stop everything and take it all in with rapt attention.”

The Camp Mackall baseball season opened in April 1943, under the directorship of Lieutenant Alfred Dodd, post athletic officer, and the Red Devils were serious contenders for the championship.

After suffering three early losses to unexpectedly stiff competition, the team settled down to register a series of resounding victories in addition the wreaking vengeance against the much-heralded semi-professional Red Spring Robbins of neighboring Robeson County. Losing to the Robbins, 6 to 5, in their first meeting, the Red Devils came back with two convincing wins, 9 to 1, and 13 to 0.

To conclude the season, the Red Devils won their last seven games in succession for a record of 26 wins and 4 losses – and clinched the Camp Mackall championship in fitting style with Okey Mills throwing a no-hitter against the 135th Quartermaster Company in the playoffs.

508th Parachute Infantry Regiment Red Devils – Camp Mackall, NC - 1943
T/5 Frank Labuda (SS) Chicago Heights, IL - Minor leaguer
Pvt. Joseph L. Laky - Ottawa, IL
S/Sgt. Howard R. Smith
Pvt. John T. M. Barry - Bronx, NY
T/Sgt. John J. Gieb  
Sgt. Adolph F. "Bud" Warnecke - Fayetteville, NC
Pvt. William F. Wall  
Pfc. James E. Beckham  
T/Sgt. John D. Kersh  
Russ Barton  
Pfc. William G. Sauer  
Pvt. William M. Dagon - Hillsboro, IL
Sgt. Ralph J. Busson - Doylestown, OH
George Kincaid  
John McNicholas (OF)
T/5 Abraham L. Axelrod  
Pvt. Okey A. Mills (P) - Crab Orchard, WV – Colliery League
Pvt. George A. Shenkle - Woodbury, NJ
S/Sgt. Forrest V. "Lefty" Brewer (P) Jacksonville, FL – Washington Senators organization
Pfc. Orbie M. King  
2/Lt. Francis J. Bolger - 508th Athletic Officer
Pvt. Raymond J. Brown - Vivian, LA
Pfc. Joseph J. "Jack" Bonvillian - Shreveport, LA
Francis “Frank” Shank OF - Ohio State League (1941)
Pvt. Walter R. Lupton - Springfield Gardens, NY

Just days after the game, a regimental order effectively disbanded the team. It was felt that further play would result in the loss of valuable military training time. This seemed particularly harsh for the players. Had the season continued, it is likely that the Red Devils would have attained national prominence as games had been scheduled against the North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters and the mighty Norfolk Naval Training Station, where the likes of Phil Rizzuto and Dom DiMaggio were playing their service baseball. Little did the troopers know that preparations for the Normandy Invasion were under way and that the 508th would be among the first airborne regiments activated.

At the end of 1943, the 508th left Camp Mackall. At the time no one knew if they were headed for the European, Mediterranean or Pacific Theater, but they were soon aboard a troop ship bound for England and encamped at Wollaton Park near the historic town of Nottingham – their home-away-from-home for the next nine months.

The gregarious young paratroopers, immaculate in their resplendent uniforms and polished jump boots, made a favourable impression with the local community, and during a particularly hot spell in May, they were invited to stage a baseball game at the local soccer stadium. On Sunday, May 28, 1944, before an enthusiastic crowd of 7,000, the Red Devils ball team began to limber up for the first time since leaving North Carolina. “We had no uniforms,” recalled Adolph “Bud” Warnecke of Fayeteville, North Carolina. “We had to wear remnants of military clothing and jump boots, so we didn’t look much like a ball team. But I’ll always remember the great reception we got from the British people.”

Their opponents were the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment Panthers, a sister regiment in the 82nd Airborne Division, who had completed their training at Fort Bragg and were also stationed near Nottingham in England.

The Panthers proved no match for the former Camp Mackall champions. “We beat the heck out of the 505th,” said Warnecke. “The score at the end was 18 to 0, to our guys.”

Okey Mills started the game on the mound for the Red Devils and was relieved by Brewer in the fourth inning. With his deceptive pick-off move, Brewer picked off the first two men that got on base, and the Nottingham Guardian the next day described how the teams “played with extraordinary vigor,” and noted there was “spectacular hitting, some magnificent catches and many exciting incidents.”

“I think most of the spectators enjoyed the game,” remembered Lee Reisenleiter, “but it must have been hard for them to make sense of it all.” 

“I certainly enjoyed myself,” added Warnecke, “but little did I know that eight days later we would jump into Normandy!”

508th Parachute Infantry Red Devils – Nottingham, England - 1944
Pvt. Elmer A. Mertz - Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Pvt. Daniel L. Peskin - Brooklyn, New York
Pvt. Leo Hoynowski
Cpl. William F. Maloney - Hartford, Connecticut
Pvt. Paul Pavlick  
Pvt. Harry L. Reisenleiter - Brentwood, Missouri
Pvt. Henry McLean
Pfc. William G. Sauer
Cpl. William M. Dagon - Hillsboro, Illinois
Cpl. Okey A. Mills (P) - Crab Orchard, WV
Sgt. John J. Judefind (IF) - Chester, PA
Pfc. George A. Shenkle - Woodbury, NJ
Pvt. Merle W. "Mike" Blethen - Portland, OR – Son of major leaguer Clarence Blethen
Cpl. Kenneth H. Hook - Dayton, OH
Pfc. John T. M. Barry - Bronx, NY
Pvt. Joseph L. Laky - Ottawa, IL
Pvt Lemuel B. Parrish - Lakeland, FL
T/5 Raymond J. Brown - Vivian, LA
Sgt. Ralph J. Busson - Doylestown, OH
Pvt. Forrest V. "Lefty" Brewer (P) - Jacksonville, FL
Sgt. Adolph F. "Bud" Warnecke - Fayetteville, NC
Cpl. Frank Labuda (SS) – Chicago Heights, IL
Pfc. Joseph J. "Jack" Bonvillian - Shreveport, LA
Pvt. Walter R. Lupton - Springfield Gardens, NY
Sgt. Thomas D. MacBlane - Elmira, NY
Pvt. Gene Matuszewski - Buffalo, NY
Pfc. Rene A. Croteau - Holyoke, MA

Speculation still hangs over the true reason this baseball game was staged. The “official” story at the time was that the Nottingham Anglo-American Committee requested the Americans to stage a sporting event because the people of Nottingham had for years been void of entertainment. However, because the game was arranged by Brigadier General James M. “Jumpin’ Jim” Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, many believe the game was designed to fool the Germans. If American paratroopers were playing baseball in England, how could an invasion be imminent? To further publicize the event, photographs were taken of each player and sent back to their hometown newspapers. Probably the most convincing fact that this game was staged to fool the Germans was the noticeable absence of paratroopers in the stands at the game. Having been such a familiar sight in Nottingham for the last few months, only officers and players were on hand. As the crowd cheered each crack of the bat, the rest of the regiment made a 40-mile journey to a local airfield where runways were packed with C-47 transport planes adorned with black and white stripes. Preparations for the invasion had begun. 

Men of the 508th were among the 24,000 Allied paratroopers who ascended during the early hours of June 6, 1944, into occupied France. Their objective was to keep German reinforcements from reaching the American landing beaches, codenamed Omaha and Utah, but the airborne operations did not go according to plan. Whole regiments landed miles from their intended drop zones and often found themselves in the midst of the awaiting enemy forces.

Even so, small groups of men valiantly engaged the enemy, and when the 82nd Airborne Division raised the Stars and Stripes in the small Normandy town of Ste-Mere-Eglise, it signified the first French community to be liberated by American forces.

Despite heavy losses, objectives had been achieved, but to the Red Devils, the losses were particularly tragic. Their pitching ace, Lefty Brewer, was dead.

Bill Dean was with Brewer when they were ambushed by German tanks and infantry near the Merderet River. Their only hope was to make a dash for the water.

“As I ran I was aware someone was running hard just behind me,” recalled Dean. “In my panic I took a quick look and saw Lefty, at port arms, running like he was going to stretch a triple into a home run! A split second later I heard a burst of machine-gun fire, and all around me bullets were clipping the upstanding reeds along the river bank.” 

Dean plunged into the precarious safety of the river. Brewer was not so fortunate. He bore the full brunt of the gunfire and was killed instantly.

“I will never forget Lefty,” Dean reflected, “nor how fickle fate is . . . he taught me how to soldier and I made it back . . . he didn’t.”

The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment continued in combat throughout the war, participating in the airborne assault into Holland, followed by the Battle of the Bulge, and the Ruhr valley campaigns. When the war in Europe ended in May 1945, the 508th performed occupational duties in Germany and during the summer of 1945, the baseball team was reorganized for a series of games. Sadly, many familiar faces were missing. William Maloney died the day after Lefty Brewer at Normandy, infielder John Judefind was killed on June 9, Elmer Mertz died June 13, and Rene Croteau lost his life on July 4. Walt Lupton was killed in Holland on September 18, 1944, and Joe Laky died in Holland on October 1.