🇺🇸 Most Badass Ballplayers: Combat Veteran Edition #5 Yogi Berra
Eighty-two years ago today on D-Day, at 19 years old, he was on a small rocket boat firing on German positions during one of the most important days in modern history.
Born May 12, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1943 he enlisted in the United States Navy even though he had already signed with the Yankees.
He put baseball on hold to serve his country.
He was assigned to the attack transport USS Bayfield and served as a gunner’s mate on a 36-foot Landing Craft Support vessel (LCSS). It was a rocket boat armed with machine guns and a dozen rockets.
On D-Day his boat raced in close to shore to suppress German positions before the first waves of troops landed.
Yogi manned a .50 caliber machine gun.
The scene was so intense with explosions and gunfire that his officer had to keep yelling at him to keep his head down.
Yogi later said it looked “just like the Fourth of July.”
Almost everyone on his boat was hit by enemy fire that day.
Yogi was wounded in the hand and earned the Purple Heart, though some accounts say he never formally accepted it because he didn’t want his mother to receive a telegram and worry.
After D-Day, his rocket boat spent the next 12 days protecting the beach and shooting at enemy aircraft.
Later that year he also supported the invasion of southern France.
After the war Yogi returned to baseball and made his major league debut with the Yankees in 1946.
Over the next 19 seasons he became one of the greatest catchers in history, winning ten World Series titles as a player, earning three MVP awards, and being selected to 18 All-Star Games.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Thank you, Yogi! 🫡🇺🇸⚾
🇺🇸 Most Badass Ballplayers: Combat Veteran Edition #6 Jerry Coleman
Jerry Coleman, USMC, was the 1949 American League Rookie of the Year, All-Star, 1950 World Series MVP, and one badass ballplayer.
He was also a WWII and Korean War combat veteran.
Born September 14, 1924, in San Jose, California.
After Pearl Harbor, Coleman enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and became a pilot.
He put his baseball career on hold to fly combat missions in World War II.
Flying the SBD Dauntless dive bomber with Marine Scout Bombing Squadron 341, the “Torrid Turtles,” he flew 57 combat missions in the Pacific.
He operated out of Guadalcanal and flew raids from Green Island in the Solomon Islands, later striking targets in the Philippines campaign.
For his actions he earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses and seven Air Medals.
After the war he finally made his major league debut with the Yankees in 1949.
In 1950 he had a breakout season, winning American League Rookie of the Year, making the All-Star team, and being named World Series MVP as the Yankees won the championship.
He helped New York win three World Series titles between 1949 and 1951.
When the Korean War broke out, Coleman once again left baseball and returned to active duty.
Flying the AU-1 Corsair with Marine Attack Squadron 323, the “Death Rattlers,” he flew another 63 combat missions bringing his total across both wars to 120.
In Korea he flew dangerous close air support and strike missions deep into enemy territory.
On one mission his windshield became completely covered in oil. Rather than abort and leave his wingmen, he flew the entire mission blind with the cockpit door open and still completed his bombing run.
During another mission he watched his close friend and tentmate get shot down by anti-aircraft fire right in front of him.
Coleman is the only Major League Baseball player in history to fly combat missions in two different wars.
After Korea he returned to the Yankees and helped win another World Series title in 1956.
Over nine seasons in the majors he hit .263 with 558 hits, 16 home runs, and 217 RBIs.
He later became one of the most respected voices in baseball, broadcasting for decades with the Yankees and especially the San Diego Padres.
2 Distinguished Flying Crosses. 13 Air Medals. 3 Navy Citations. 4 World Series Championships.
Thank you, Jerry! 🫡🇺🇸⚾