Show Us Your Vets:

[clydepepper]

My thought was to include only those who saw actual combat, but then I said to myself, who am I to decide that.

1937 R314 BOB FELLER.jpg

1941 Play Ball TED WILLIAMS SGC-60.jpg

1910 T205 EDDIE GRANT PSA-5.jpg

1948 Bowman BOB FELLER PSA-7.jpg

1911 M116 Sporting Life EDDIE GRANT PSA-6.jpg

[Jeff1970Red]

Joe D

[RCMcKenzie]

WW1 in France I read...

[Brian Van Horn]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Travis

From wikipedia:

"Travis entered the Army in the winter of 1941-42, and spent most of World War II in the United States, playing on military baseball teams. Sent to Europe in late 1944 while serving in the 76th Infantry Division, he suffered a severe case of frostbite during the Battle of the Bulge, necessitating an operation to prevent amputation of his feet. Travis received a Bronze Star for his military service. Although only 31 years old when he returned to baseball, he was not the same player as he had been before the war, and hit .241 in late 1945 and .252 in 1946. He retired after batting .216 in 74 games in 1947. One month before his final game, he was honored with "Cecil Travis Night" at Griffith Stadium, with General Dwight D. Eisenhower in attendance."

[RCMcKenzie]

...

[itjclarke]

Happy 4th all

[Brian Van Horn]

Here's a good site:

http://www.baseballinwartime.com/

[mechanicalman]

Hammerin' Hank.

[mechanicalman]

Matty

[clydepepper]

1941 Double Play - Bob Feller PSA-7.jpg

1948 Leaf - Ted Williams PSA-6.jpg

1951 Topps Red Back - Bob Feller PSA-9.jpg

1951 Topps Red Back - Warren Spahn PSA-9.jpg

1952 Bowman- Warren Spahn PSA-7.jpg

1952 Topps - Bob Feller PSA-6.jpg

1952 Topps - Warren Spahn PSA-6.5.jpg

1953 Bowman Color - Bob Feller PSA-5.jpg

1954 Topps 1- Ted Williams PSA-6.jpg

1954 Topps 250 - Ted Williams PSA-6.jpg

1954 Topps- Warren Spahn PSA-7.jpg

1960 Fleer- Ted Williams PSA-7.jpg

[mechanicalman]

Sorry I can't figure out how to post multiple pics using my phone. Great story in Ted's biography about a near miss crash in the Korean War.

[DeanH3]

Fantastic cards guys. Those are some stunners Sam.







Edited to add....Happy 4th to all!!!

[egri]

Almost everyone in the set served in the military, either during World War II, Korea, or, in the case of Bob Kennedy, both. There are a lot of cards where the back doesn't have stats from the previous season because the player was in the military. Senators infielder Wayne Terwilliger (row 14, 3rd from left) served with the Marines at Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima, and his teammate Mickey Grasso (who I don't have yet; am on the lookout for one) was captured at the Battle of Kasserine Pass, and spent two years in a German POW camp, which contributed to his early death in 1975, at 55 years old.

[CxG Seven Dust]

Some real beauties in this thread!

[tedzan]

Ted Williams proudly served our country in WWII and then in the Korean War. Ted attained the rank of Captain in the Marine Corps as a Fighter pilot.






Fighter Pilot in WWII

...................... Ted meets the Babe (1943) ................................. Flight Training at Willow Grove, PA **



**
The Willow Grove Naval Air Station was located only 2 miles north of the famous Willow Grove Philly Show site in Pennsylvania.


TED Z
.

[nat]

Maybe not as nice a card as the others posted here, but here's a vet nobody has posted yet:

[Brian Van Horn]

Larry French
Tommy Bridges
Buddy Lewis

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Brian Van Horn

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Travis

From wikipedia:

"Travis entered the Army in the winter of 1941-42, and spent most of World War II in the United States, playing on military baseball teams. Sent to Europe in late 1944 while serving in the 76th Infantry Division, he suffered a severe case of frostbite during the Battle of the Bulge, necessitating an operation to prevent amputation of his feet. Travis received a Bronze Star for his military service. Although only 31 years old when he returned to baseball, he was not the same player as he had been before the war, and hit .241 in late 1945 and .252 in 1946. He retired after batting .216 in 74 games in 1947. One month before his final game, he was honored with "Cecil Travis Night" at Griffith Stadium, with General Dwight D. Eisenhower in attendance."

By the end of the 1941 season when he had just turned age 28, Cecil Travis had accumulated 1,370 hits and a .327 batting average, and he appeared to be well on his way to Cooperstown.
Val

[the 'stache]

Misters Feller and Kiner.

[darwinbulldog]

Harvard Eddie

[tedzan]

All six of these ballplayers [pictured in their 1st (rookie) Major League cards] served in WWII.







TED Z
.