A Tribute to Elmer Gedeon & Harry O'Neill, Baseball's Fallen Heroes

Many great men served in the United States Armed Forces during the Second World War. Everyone knows the war stories of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio during that time, but too few know the names of Elmer Gedeon and Harry O'Neill. Those two are the only big-league baseball players to lose their lives fighting for their country in World War II. Both had brief experiences in the major leagues and saw their only big-league time in 1939. And both, on this Veteran's Day, deserve to have their stories told.

Elmer Gedeon was the nephew of famous Michigan multi-sport athlete and major leaguer, Joe Gedeon. The year his nephew was born, Joe hit .237 for the Yankees. The younger Gedeon followed in his uncle's footsteps, becoming a Wolverine baseball star in Ann Arbor. On June 3, 1939, Gedeon announced he signed a big-league contract with the Washington Senators.

Less than three months later, German forces invaded Poland. Just 17 days after the invasion began overseas, Gedeon made his major-league debut. Twenty-two days after what became the start of World War II, he played in his final MLB game. In 17 plate appearances, Gedeon managed three singles, two walks, an RBI and five strikeouts.

While serving as an assistant coach for the University of Michigan football team, Gedeon received his military summons in January 1941, almost a full year before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Once, in August 1942, Gedeon ran onto the scene of a burning plane to try and save his fellow Air Force troops and sustained broken ribs and serious burns, some of which required skin grafts, in the process. It would be 12 weeks before he was out of the hospital. Not much later, he was awarded the Soldier's Medal for his bravery.

As an operations officer in 1944, Gedeon rarely flew fighter planes anymore. But on April 20, five days after his 27th birthday, he did. Enemy fire hit directly under the cockpit of Gedeon's plane moments after the plane had dropped a bomb on a German target.

Soon, the plane filled with flames and was sent into a nosedive. Gedeon and the other five men aboard were killed when the plane made impact with the ground. The 27-year-old was the first MLB player killed in action in WWII. It took a month for Allied Forces to recover his body so that it could be sent back to the United States and be given a proper burial. Gedeon was given that proper burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Harry O'Neill was also born in 1917, 400 miles away from Gedeon in Philadelphia. It's almost as though the two near-teammates led parallel lives. O'Neill quickly became a multi-sport star and by the time he was ready to go pro, he had contract offers from the Washington Senators and hometown Philadelphia Athletics. Connie Mack was able to wow him into signing with the A's for $200 a month. A week after they each signed the contract, Mack was enshrined as part of the inaugural class of the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame.

O'Neill didn't have to spend any time in the minors; he reported straight to the big-league club as the team's third-string catcher. He never saw the field and it appeared as if he never would. But on July 23, O'Neill finally got his chance. His team was down 15-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Tigers and acting manager Earle Mack (Connie's son who had taken over while his father was ill) inserted O'Neill into the game as a defensive replacement.

The young backstop didn't record a putout or an assist and never got to bat in the ninth inning. Although he played for the A's in an exhibition game the next day in Cooperstown against the Penn Athletic Club forConnie Mack Day, he never got into another big-league game. He was released by Philadelphia in September and did not pursue a contract with another team.

Less than a year after Pearl Harbor, O'Neill enlisted in the marines and was sent to train at 25 years old. In January 1944, O'Neill was deployed to Japan. O'Neill was forced out of commission for three months when his shoulder was injured by shrapnel in July of 1944 for which he was awarded a Purple Heart.

O'Neill was back on active duty months later and in February 1945, just months before the war would come to an end, he was sent with his 25th Marine Regiment to a battlefield in Iwo Jima, Japan. His regiment came under fire and O'Neill was killed with a sniper's bullet. He became the second and final former big leaguer to lay down his life on a foreign battlefield in World War II that day.

As we ponder how baseball will look in 2021, let us also remember the lives of the two former ballplayers who laid down a sacrifice more important than any fly ball or bunt to ever come off the bat of a major leaguer. In uncertain times, baseball has tended to provide light through uncharted waters.

Through these trying circumstances, it may well do that again. Ballplayers will inspire us as they provide consistency and stability in what has become a confusing world. But when you find yourself admiring some of today's stars, don't let yourself forget about Elmer Gedeon and Harry O'Neill, two ball players who are even more worthy of your appreciation.