While more than 500 ballplayers have lost their lives in military service not all have been isolated incidents. On a number of occasions, a military baseball team, usually in transit from one place to another, has suffered fatalities. Here is the sixth of a seven part series describing some of these tragedies.
Dutch Harbor Tragedy - 1947
In August 1947, the Dutch Harbor Army-Navy all-star softball team. (made up of seven Navy players from the Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base, Alaska, and six Army players from nearby Fort Mears) were playing in an Alaska-wide tournament held at Kodiak on Kodiak Island. Team players included Y2C William R. Loftus (an amateur outfielder from Omaha, Nebraska), T/5 Delmar E. Nowak of Alpena, Michigan, T/5 Angus MacKay of Detroit and M/Sgt. Jacob R. Swander (a 12-year Army-man from East Altoona, Pennsylvania). Swander's 3-year-old son had been scheduled to make the trip with his father because the team's catcher had a broken thumb and couldn't play. At the last minute, the catcher decided to go and Swander's son lost his seat on the plane to Kodiak Island.
After the tournament finished, the 13-man team left Kodiak on August 6, at 0626 hours to make the 600-mile journey to Dutch Harbor aboard a U.S. Navy Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina flying boat. The PBY had a crew of five plus two other Navy passengers as well as the team. Pilots Lt (jg) William H. Zeigler and Lt (jg) Nave A. Fuliehan made their last report at 1045 hours about 150 miles from Dutch Harbor. After that, the PBY was never seen or heard from again.
A major search was conducted in the hope that the plane might have made a safe landing in sheltered waters along the route, with its radio damaged. Joining the search were transient aircraft and military planes from Fort Randall, Fort Richardson, Kodiak and Adak. The Navy cargo ship USS Sussex, enroute to Adak, was sent to the area to direct the surface operations, in which Coast Guard vessels and the Navy fleet tug USS Potawatomi participated.
All searches failed to locate anything that might indicate what happened to the PBY. A year later, with still no trace of the plane or passengers, all 20 passengers were declared dead. Ironically, many of the Navy personnel were due to have been discharged from service three weeks after the tournament. Some years later, wreckage that washed ashore at St. George Island, Alaska, is believed to have come from this plane.
While more than 500 ballplayers have lost their lives in military service not all have been isolated incidents. On a number of occasions, a military baseball team, usually in transit from one place to another, has suffered fatalities. Here is the fifth of a seven part series describing some of these tragedies.
Negro 440th Port Company Team Plane Crash at Iwo Jima - 1946
During the afternoon of November 16, 1946, the 440th Port Company baseball team were flying back to Iwo Jima after having taken part in a tournament on Guam. Aboard the Curtiss C-46F Commando transport plane, piloted by Captain James C. Queen, were four other crew members, four US Army personnel and the 15 African-American members of the baseball team. Heavy cloud cover made the approach to Iwo Jima difficult and as the twin-engined plane approached Airfield No. 3 it was too high and missed the runway. The plane was still descending, however, and hit the water just off the island. It rapidly sank and all on board lost their lives.
The 440th Port Company baseball team:
Sgt. Joseph Bowers (Camden, SC)
T/4 Fred Brown (Ama, LA)
T/5 Robert L. Goins (Loganport, IN)
S/Sgt. Vivien L. Harris (Newark, NJ)
T/5 Emanuel M. Jackson (Occoquan, VA)
T/5 Jessie L. Glover (East St. Louis, IL)
T/5 Carnell Boyd (Hickory Valley, TN)
Pfc John T. Eatmon (Brooklyn, NY)
Pfc Jonathan Culbertson (Baltimore, MD)
Pfc Clarence W. Brown (New York, NY)
Sgt. Earnest Flowers (Chicago, IL)
Cpl. Harry L. Edmonds (Canton, MS)
Pfc L.C. Hollins (Ore City, TX)
Pfc William Jenkins, Jr. (South Charleston, OH)
Pfc Robert Hillman, Jr. (Thomaston, GA)
Crew members: Cptn. James C. Queen, 1/Lt. George Eisenhaur, 1/Lt. Richard G. Davis, Sgt. Earl C. Glass and Sgt. Stanley Brudney
Passengers: Pfc George A. Knoll, 2/Lt. Dwight K. Gilbert, WOJG Alfred J. Di Pietro and Pfc Arthur Brown
While more than 500 ballplayers have lost their lives in military service not all have been isolated incidents. On a number of occasions, a military baseball team, usually in transit from one place to another, has suffered fatalities. Here is the fourth of a seven part series describing some of these tragedies.
Army Truck Hits Train in Belgium - 1945
Following the German surrender in May 1945, military baseball teams travelled across Europe entertaining troops. It was while traveling with the Army team near Brussels in Belgium that tragedy struck. The ball team was riding in the back of an Army truck when it struck a train. Among the injured was former minor league outfielder Sgt. Eugene L. Dellinger. Dellinger was badly burned and evacuated to the Veterans Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was transferred to the Northington General Hospital before succumbing to his injuries on January 31, 1946.
While more than 500 ballplayers have lost their lives in military service not all have been isolated incidents. On a number of occasions, a military baseball team, usually in transit from one place to another, has suffered fatalities. Here is the third of a seven part series describing some of these tragedies.
Plane Crash at Foster Field, Texas - 1945
On August 9, 1945 – the Foster Field Falcons traveled to Childress Army Air Base in Texas, for a ballgame. The Falcons won the contest and five of the players – Cpl. Peter J. Zarrilla, Sgt. H. Duard Lawson (an amateur first baseman from Princeton, Texas), 1/Lt. Harold G. Phillips (a semi-pro catcher from Georgia), S/Sgt. Chester V. Seipp (a semi-pro shortstop from Pasadena, Maryland) and Cpl. Lester O. Clotiaux (a Refinery League catcher from Nederland, Texas), along with 2/Lt. Peter R. Davis (a veteran transport pilot with 1,500 hours to his credit) flew back to Foster Field in a twin-engine Beechcraft AT-7C airplane. On the return journey the plane crashed and burst into flames near Smiley, 60 miles east of San Antonio, Texas. All six men were killed.
While more than 500 ballplayers have lost their lives in military service not all have been isolated incidents. On a number of occasions, a military baseball team, usually in transit from one place to another, has suffered fatalities. Here is the second of a seven part series describing some of these tragedies.
Plane Crash at Victorville, California - 1943
On Sunday, May 23, 1943, the Victorville Army Air Base Bombers were scheduled to play a game in Las Vegas, and a number of the players were going to fly there. The short flight was to end in tragedy.
The official story released by the military claimed a Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan was struck by another AT-11 while on a bombardier training exercise. One plane crashed at Silver Lake, California, about 90 miles from Victorville, killing all on board, while the other plane, which suffered minimal damage, managed to land safely back at the airfield. In truth, the two planes were heading to Las Vegas for the ball game and the pilots were playing games with each other when one plane cut the tail off the other. On board the crippled AT-11 were 2/Lt. Harold B. “Hal” Dobson, a former minor league pitcher, Sgt. John A. Lowry, a semi-pro ballplayer from Arnold, Pennsylvania, and Sgt. William E. Thomas, a semi-pro player from Pittsburgh. They were all killed along with the pilot, 2/Lt. William S. Barnes.
While more than 500 ballplayers have lost their lives in military service not all have been isolated incidents. On a number of occasions, a military baseball team, usually in transit from one place to another, has suffered fatalities. Here is the first of a seven part series describing some of these tragedies.
Tragedy of the USS Maine - 1898
In Florida in December 1897, the baseball team of the battleship USS Maine defeated a team from the cruiser USS Marblehead, 18-3, to earn the title Navy baseball champions. Led by engine stoker and pitcher William Lambert of Hampton, Virginia, the only black player on the team who was described as “a master of speed, curves, and control,” the team’s next game was scheduled with an all-star squad in Havana, Cuba.
On February 15, 1898, Marine Corps Fifer C.H. Newton, the ship’s bugler and the ball team’s third baseman, blew taps as the Maine bobbed listlessly in Havana Harbor. Shortly afterwards, the Maine blew up, killing 261 of the crew and all but the baseball team’s right fielder, John Bloomer. In addition to Newton, the bugler, the ballplayers killed that evening were Ordinary Seaman William H. Gorman (second base) of Boston, Landsman Charles Hauck (centerfield) of Brooklyn, Landsman William L. Hough (first base) of New York, pitcher William Lambert, Apprentice First Class Benjamin L. Marsden (catcher) of Jersey City, New Jersey, Landsman John Merz (shortstop) of Brooklyn, and Landsman William H. Tinsman (leftfield) of East Deering, Maine. Also killed were the team’s manager Gunner’s Mate First Class Charles F. W. Eiermann of New York, and Seaman Leon Bonner of New York, the manager’s assistant. In addition, to lose his life aboard the Maine that night although not a member of the ship’s team was Yeoman Third Class John H. Shillington of Chicago, who had played shortstop with Notre Dame.
Two months after the loss of the USS Maine, April 25, 1898 saw the start of the Spanish-American War, during which the rallying cry, “Remember the Maine! To Hell with Spain!” was frequently heard.
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