Mark Vanderheid was a well-known young athlete in Tonawanda, New York. On this day, 46 years ago, his life ended in Vietnam.
Mark E. Vanderheid, the son of Mr. Edward and Mrs. Lillian Vanderheid, was born in Tonawanda, New York, on February 11, 1949. He played varisty football at Tonawanda High School and Little League baseball.
A catcher, Vanderheid was with the VFW team that won the Tonawanda American Little League title in 1961. He went on to play for Tondisco and the Yankees Babe Ruth League teams.
Vanderheid graduated from high school in 1967 and was employed by Acme Markets in North Tonawanda and Walters Service Station in Tonawanda. He also continued his affiliation with the Tonawanda American Little League by umpiring games.
He was just 19 years old when he enlisted with the Marine Corps on July 31, 1967. He was stationed at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, before being sent to Camp Pendleton, California at the start of the year. From California he was sent overseas to Vietnam on January 5, 1968, and served with B Company of the 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division.
On June 28, 1968, Lance Corporal Vanderheid was killed in action when he was hit by mortar shell fragments near Quang Tri, South Vietnam.
His body was returned to Tonawanda in July with services conducted by Reverand Lyle V. Newman at the John O. Roth Funeral Home. He was buried with military rites at Elmlawn Cemetery in that city.
On December 19, 1968, the following letter from the Vanderheid family appeared in the Tonawanda News:
Editor:
Recently there were two memorials given in memory of our son. Lance Corp. Mark Vanderheid who was
killed in Vietnam June 28, 1968.
It has been very heart-warming for our family to know Mark has been
loved and remembered in such wonderful ways.
In November, Terry West of the Tonawanda varsity football team was given the Mark Vanderheid award for the most spirited player. A family Mark spent many enjoyable hours with started the trophy fund, knowing his love of sports and others hearing of this memorial also contributed.
Mark not only loved to play in sports but liked teaching other young boys the games. He coached Little League and also umpired the games.
We talked of the war one day while he was home on leave (just a year ago) and. he said, "Mom, someone has to help those people over there. Those kids have never known anything but war and. if I can do even a small part to help them to some day just be kids and enjoy a childhood like I did, to be able to throw baseballs and footballs instead of hand grenades, I'll have
done my part."
Mark loved people. They didn't have to be young. He loved and respected all ages. We are pleased to know Mark will be remembered in that way.
The other memorial is the beautiful stained glass window in the Payne Avenue Christian Church. Words just
can't express the deep feeling within us as we sat in church listening to the memorial dedication service the young friends of Mark's had to dedicate the stained glass window that has been put in our church in memory of him.
How very proud you parents of these young men and women should be. We're proud of them! Very proud to say they were friends of our son.
In talking and listening to these young people you could hear them saying, "There is a God." They didn't carry banners or posters to proclaim this but worked on quietly remembering a friend in a very wonderful, beautiful way.
There is much to be said for these young people They have been thoughtful and kind and we are very
grateful to each and every one of them Many of them come to spend the day or evening with us. They will never know how much their visits have meant. We hope never to lose their friendships.
We would like so much to say the names of each and every youth and adult that has given of their efforts, time and money to make these lovely memorials but, I wouldn't want to forget even one name in trying to remember them all but I'm sure you know our love and gratitude to each and every one of you.
May God bless you all.
Mr. and Mrs. William Vanderheid
In May 1969, Tonawanda American Little League renamed its ballfield Mark Vanderheid Field.
Visit the Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice website
On this day in 1944, minor league ballplayer, Syl Sturges, lost his life serving with the Army Air Force at Normandy.
Sylvester H. "Syl" Sturges, born in Richmond Hill, New York in 1919, was an athletic and personable young man, with a mild temperament and a gift for making friends. Sturges enjoyed music and the great outdoors, including fishing and swimming, but his greatest passion was playing baseball. He attended John Adams High School in Ozone Park, New York, where he excelled in sports and, as a hard-hitting outfielder, co-captained the baseball team with future minor league first baseman, Charley "Moose" Metelski.
In high school he played against future Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto, who was at Richmond Hill High School, and he played in the highly competetive Queens Alliance League with Glen Morris and Melvina. He went eight-for-eight in a doubleheader at Dexter Park in Queens, New York, and was being scouted by Larry McPhail of the Cincinnati Reds at the time.
Graduating from high school in 1938, Sturges later signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers' organization, and was assigned to the Americus Pioneers of the Georgia-Florida League in 1939, where he batted .250 in 20 games. He joined the Shelby Colonels of the Class D Tar Heel League in 1940, and after batting.243 in 65 games was assigned to the Goldsboro Goldbugs of the Class D Coastal Plain League, where he hit .321 in 14 games before breaking his leg. Having made a full recovery, Sturges began the 1941 season as the Goldbugs' regular left fielder until switching to second base in August. He batted .284 with 30 doubles and 39 RBIs.
Sturges entered military service on October 15, 1941, and trained as a pilot with the Army Air Force at Yuma, Arizona. At the beginning of 1944, he was sent to a secluded airfield in Connecticut, where he learned to tow a glider while piloting a Douglas C-47. Shortly afterwards, Second Lieutenant Sturges left for England with the 32nd Troop Carrier Squadron of the 314th Troop Carrier Group, Ninth Air Force. On a visit to London, Sturges decided to exercise his musical talent. An accomplished violinist, he purchased an inexpensive fiddle to keep himself entertained.
At 3:25 A.M., on June 7, 1944 - the day after the Normandy invasion - Sturges was the co-pilot of a C-47 transport plane that took off from Saltby Airfield in Leicestershire, in light rain and ground haze. The plane was heading to Picauville, France, as part of Operation Freeport - a mission to drop supplies to troops on the ground. Shortly after take off, it was lost out of formation in the low cloud and not seen again. At 5:00 P.M. that evening, the burnt out wreck was discovered about a mile northeast of Sebeville in France. The badly burned bodies of Sturges and pilot First Lieutenant George Risley, Jr., were still at the controls. Crew Chief S/Sgt. Howard Flisrand and radio operator Andrew Barraca were the other crew members who perished.
News, however, was slow getting back to the Sturges family about the loss. He had been reported missing in action and as late as September 1944, the Long Island Daily Press hoped that "the family of Lieutenant Syl Sturges of Richmond Hill soon gets some good word about the whereabouts of the former Adams, Queens Alliance and minor league baseballer, who has been reported missing in action."
Sturges was buried at the American cemetery in Ste-Mere-Eglise in Normandy, France. His remains were later returned home and now rest at the Long Island National Cemetery in New York.
1/Lt. Matt Lynch, former Duke University catcher, served three tours in Iraq with the Marine Corps. He lost his life on that final tour.
Matthew D. "Matt" Lynch, the son of Bill and Angela Lynch, was born in Jericho, New York, on May 10, 1979. He attended Jericho High School where he was an outstanding swimmer and baseball player. He was All-County swimmer three years in a row, and a County champion in two events each of his last two years. As a catcher on the baseball team he was All-County his last two years in high school, nominated for the “Diamond Award,” as one of the best players in Nassau County; and as a senior, he tied for the home run record.
Lynch graduated from high school in 1997 and won a scholarship to Duke University where he continued to excel as an athlete. He was the swim team's “Rookie of the Year,” and became a mainstay of that team. He was also a catcher on the Blue Devils baseball team for two years. In 1999, as a back-up catcher, he played in 10 games, started two and finished with three hits and two RBIs for a .273 average. In 2000, Lynch played in 30 games, starting 13 and amassing 13 hits, seven RBIs and a .217 batting average.
After graduating from Duke in 2001, Lynch joined the Marine Corps, and enrolled in OCS (Officer Candidate School) at Quantico, Virginia. His brother, Tim, was already a Marine, and his father had served in the Marine Corps in the 1960s.
Lynch completed officers training in December 2002 and was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant. He served with 1st Marine Division, 1 Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, California. He was deployed to Iraq in March 2003. He returned to Camp Pendleton in August, but was sent back in March 2004. Returning in July he volunteered for a third tour on August 31.
On October 31, 2004, near Ramadi, the capital of the Al Anbar province of Iraq, First Lieutenant Lynch, serving as a platoon leader with Weapons Company of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, died from injuries suffered from a roadside bomb explosion the day before.
During his military career, he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.
Matt Lynch is buried at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.
"Matt was a sucker for a high, inside pitch," recalls his dad. "Not only could he not hit it....he couldn't resist it. When they named the new electronic swim scoreboard in the Duke pool for Matt in 2006, I told those assembled about the many times I pitched batting practice to Matt, saying: 'Here it comes kid,...high...inside...and you won't even SMELL it!' I'd throw, he'd miss, pound the plate with his bat and say, 'Lemme have it again, Dad'...I would, ...same result.
"Even in heaven, St. Peter himself will not be able to get Matt to lay off that pitch."
In his honor, the 1st Lt. Matthew D. Lynch Memorial Scholarship Fund has been established at Duke University to provide whole or partial scholarships to undergraduate students.
