Editor’s note: This article was originally composed nine years ago and has been republished in its entirety for this year’s Memorial Day.
There were many major league baseball players whose careers were interrupted as they left to serve our country in World War II, including Tigers Hall-of-Famer Hank Greenberg. Another Hall-of-Famer, pitcher Hal Newhouser, attempted to enlist several times but was refused as he was diagnosed with a leaky heart valve and was classified as 4-F -- ineligible to serve.
The history books, however, show that two major league players were killed in action in World War II.