Pinstripes and Fatigues

I come from a long line of veterans - my grandfather on mother's side served in WWII, my grandfather on my father's side served in Korea, my uncle served in Vietnam and my cousin served in Afghanistan.  Meanwhile, my fiancee's family has a long history of service as well, with her grandfather, uncle and cousin all putting their time in to protect our country.  In short, Veteran's Day is an important day in our household.

Especially considering the uneasy and turbulent political times (*sigh*), it's important that we not forget those who have protected our home and our way of life over the last 240 years.  Without their brave sacrifices, we would not have the opportunity for political discourse that we have today.

On that note, since this is a Cubs-themed blog, I've prepared a comprehensive list of every Chicago Cub who once traded in their pinstripes for fatigues, who traded their baseball bat for a rifle, who traded their service to Chicago to service for the USA.  They deserve all the recognition that they can get on Veteran's Day.

Since this franchise is so gosh darn old, we can start all the way back with in the days of  Lincoln:

Civil War

Oscar Bielaski

Scott Hastings

Fergy Malone

Ed Pinkham

George Zettlein

World War I

Karl Adams 

Vic Aldridge

Grover Cleveland Alexander

Nick Allen

Sweetbreads Bailey

Hal Carlson

Jimmy Cooney

Hooks Cotter

Kiki Cuyler

Pickles Dillhoefer

Paddy Driscoll

Rowdy Elliott

Johnny Evers

Burleigh Grimes

Herb Hunter

Percy Jones

George Kelly

Pete Kilduff

Bill Killefer

Joe Klugmann

Rube Kroh

Len Madden

Rabbit Maranville

Rube Marquard

Speed Martin

Earl Moore

Joel Newkirk

Jesse Petty

Eddie Pick

Lance Richbourg

Vic Saier

Hank Schrieber

Bob Smith

Gale Staley

Sammy Strang

George Stueland

Zeb Terry

Pete Turgeon

Hooks Warner

Harry Weaver

World War II 

Cliff Aberson - Army

Dale Alderson - Navy

John Andre - Air Force

Toby Atwell

Fred Baczewski - Air Force

Gene Baker - Navy

Dick Bartell - Navy

Russ Bauers - Army

Frank Baumholtz - Navy

Joe Berry - Marines

Hi Bithorn - Navy

Cy Block - Coast Guard

Julio Bonetti - Army

Zeke Bonura - Army

John Bottarini - Air Force

Smoky Burgess - Army

Don Carlsen - Army

Bob Carpenter - Army

Hugh Casey - Navy

Bob Chipman - Army

Bubba Church - Air Force

Jackie Collum - Air Force

Jeff Cross - Navy

Dom Dallesandro - Army

Al Dark - Marines

Jim Davis - Marines

Jess Dobernic - Army

Bruce Edwards - Army

Hank Edwards - Army

Al Epperly

Jim Fanning - Army

Marv Felderman - Navy

Dee Fondy - Army

Larry French - Navy

Len Gabrielson - Navy

Joe Garagiola - Army

Cecil Garriott - Army

Paul Gillespie - Coast Guard

Jim Gleeson - Navy

Al Glossop - Navy

Hank Gornicki - Army

Warren Hacker - Marines

Ralph Hamner - Navy

Joe Hatten - Navy

Grady Hatton - Air Force

Jim Hegan - Coast Guard

Rollie Hemsley - Navy

Roy Henshaw - Navy

Billy Herman - Navy

Gene Hermanski - Coast Guard

Buck Herzog - Army

Kirby Higbe - Army

Cal Howe - Army

Herb Hunter - Navy

Monte Irvin - Army

Randy Jackson - Navy

Tony Jacobs - Marines

Hal Jeffcoat - Army

Frank Jelinich - Navy

Don Johnson - Army

Ralph Kiner - Navy

Walt Lanfranconi - Army

Mickey Livingston -Army

Turk Lown - Army

Peanuts Lowrey - Army

Clarence Maddern - Army

Sal Madrid - Air Force

Morrie Martin - Army

Joe Marty - Air Force

Gene Mauch - Air Force

Clyde McCullough - Navy

Cal McLish - Army

Lloyd Merriman - Marines

Dutch Meyer - Air Force

Ed Mickelson - Air Force

Eddie Miksis - Navy

Ox Miller - Army

Paul Minner - Army

Bill Moisan - Army

Bobby Morgan - Army

Walt Moryn - Navy

Irv Noren - Army

Ron Northey - Army

Lou Novikoff - Air Force

Vern Olsen - Navy

Ted Pawelek - Marines

Harry Perkowski - Navy

Ray Pierce - Navy

Bob Porterfield - Army

Johnny Pramesa - Marines

Wimpy Quinn - Marines

Ken Raffensberger - Navy

Bob Ramazotti - Army

Hal Rice - Army

Marv Rickert - Coast Guard

Robin Roberts - Air Force

Bob Rush - Army

Hank Sauer - Coast Guard

Bob Scheffing - Navy

Hank Schenz - Navy

Freddy  Schmidt - Army

Johnny Schmitz - Navy

Bill Serena - Navy

Bobby Shantz - Army

Clyde Shoun - Navy

Charlie Silvera - Air Force

Lefty Sloat - Army

Roy Smalley - Navy

Lou Stringer - Air Force

Bobby Sturgeon - Navy

El Tappe - Navy

Wayne Terwilliger - Marines

Bobby Thomson - Air Force

Bob Thorpe - Navy

Johnny Vander Meer - Navy

Ben Wade - Air Force

Eddie Waitkus - Army

Harry Walker - Army 

Lon Warneke - Army

Vic Wertz - Air Force

Hoyt Wilhelm - Army

Tony York - Army

Bob Zick - Army

Korean War

Ted Abernathy

Ken Aspromonte

Ed Bailey

Ernie Banks

Frank Baumann

Ed Bouchee

Leon Brinkopf

Jim Brosnan

Bob Buhl

Art Ceccarelli

Harry Chiti

Hy Cohen

Wes Covington

Arnold Earley

Gene Fodge

Larry French

Footer Johnson

Don Larsen

Bob Lennon

Lloyd Merriman

Tom Poholsky

Mel Roach

Don Robertson

Paul Schramka

Curt Simmons

Bob Speake

Sammy Taylor

Vito Valentinetti

Preston Ward

Pete Whisenant

Ed Winceniak

Vietnam War

Matt Alexander

Larry Biitner

Larry French

George Mitterwald

Bobby Murcer

Champ Summers 

And there you have it - every Cubs player who has gone to battle on the diamond and in the battlefield.  Thanks to Baseball Reference, SABR and Baseball in Wartime for providing such comprehensive databases from which I was able to pick out this information. 

With so much hate and vitriol being spewed in the wake of the Presidential election (again, *sigh*), I highly encourage you to spread a little love and thank a veteran for their service. After all, who knows where we'd be today without their sacrifices?

Happy Veterans Day!