Memorial Day

One day, I'll find a way to put together a post about Memorial Day that has everything that I want to say. But, I can't seem to find the right words this morning.

I did find this website yesterday while trying. Baseball in Wartime. The creator of that site has an In Memoriam section of all baseball players who died in World War II.

There were two major leaguers:

Elmer Gedeon

Elmer John Gedeon, nephew of former major league infielder Joe Gedeon, was born in Cleveland, Ohio on April 15, 1917. He and cousin Bob used to ice skate together at Brookside Park in Cleveland. On one occasion the ice gave way and Bob plunged through. Elmer slid across the ice on his stomach and reached into the icy water to pull his cousin to safety.
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Gedeon played 67 games for Orlando and joined the Senators at the end of the season. His first major league appearance was on September 18, 1939 as a late-inning replacement in Dutch Leonard's 19th win of the season against the Tigers. The following day, Gedeon was the starting centerfielder, collecting three hits in a 10-9 win against the Indians. He would appear in five games before the year was out – four in centerfield and one in rightfield – and collected three hits in 15 at-bats.
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On April 20, 1944, just five days after celebrating his 27th birthday, Gedeon piloted one of 30 B-26 Marauders that left Boreham to bomb German construction works at Bois d’Esquerdes. It was the group’s thirteenth mission. Gedeon’s bomber was severely hit by flak over France on the way to the target. “We got caught in searchlights and took a direct hit under the cockpit,” says Taaffe. “I watched Gedeon lean forward against the controls as the plane went into a nose dive and the cockpit filled with flames.”

Taaffe was the only crew member able to escape by parachute as the bomber plunged to earth carrying Gedeon and five others to their death.

Gedeon was reported missing in action, and it was not until May 1945 that his father, Andrew A Gedeon, received word from his son's commanding officer that Elmer's grave had been located in a small British army cemetery in St Pol, France.

Harry O'Neill

Harry M O'Neill was born in Philadelphia on May 8, 1917.

He attended high school in Darby, Pennsylvania and then progressed to Gettysburg College - a private four-year liberal arts institution. At Gettysburg he was a standout athlete playing center on the basketball and football teams and catcher with the baseball nine.

The 6-foot-3, 205-pound youngster was signed by the Athletics immediately after his graduation on June 5, 1939 for $200 a month. He spent the rest of the year with Philadelphia, making his only major league appearance on July 23, 1939 as a late-inning defensive replacement for Frankie Hayes against the Tigers.
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Iwo Jima, 750 miles south of Tokyo, is the middle island of the three tiny specks of the Volcano Islands. Five miles long with Mount Suribachi at the southern tip, the island is honeycombed with excoriated volcanic vents. Hundreds of natural caves communicate with deep sulphur-exuding tunnels. Steep and broken gulleys cut across the surface, ragged sea cliffs surround it. Only to the south is there level sand, but it is fine, shifting, black pumice dust making the beaches like quicksand and rendering it impossible to dig a fox-hole when in need of cover.

The island was riddled with pillboxes, gun-pits, trenches and mortar sites and a three-day naval bombardment beginning on February 16 was intended to rid the island of much of its defense. But despite its enormity the bombardment had minimal effect.

On March 6, 1945, First Lieutenant Harry O'Neill was killed in action on Iwo Jima. Ten days later all resistance ended on the island.

All gave some. Some gave all.