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Posted By: Ted Holden

When I was a kid and read Augie Donatelli's bio information of tne back of the 1955 Bowman card, it talked about him being a POW in WWII. I finally did some research and found this on Wikipedia:

"Augie Donatelli (August 22, 1914 - May 24, 1990) was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the National League from 1950 to 1973. Highly regarded for his ability, he was also known for his inclination to eject players and managers quickly and dramatically.

After enjoying a 14-game career as a minor league infielder in 1938, he served in the Army Air Forces' Eighth Air Force during World War II and spent 15 months as a German prisoner of war after flying 18 missions as a tailgunner on a B-17. His plane was shot down during the first daylight raid on Berlin, and he suffered a broken ankle upon parachuting. He began umpiring softball games while a POW before being freed when Soviet troops overran the area. After the war he opted for an umpiring career rather than return to the coal mines near his hometown."



Texas Ted