Another Illinois Pearl Harbor Unknown Identified: Herbert Jacobson-- Part 2

Their bodies were not recovered until the ship was raised much later.  He was identified in 2019, but reburials were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Jacobson was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery this past September.

McDonald's father was a friend of Jacobson's in boot camp at Great Lakes naval Station north of Chicago.  The father met Jacobson's sister during a visit to Herbert's home in Grayslake and eventually married her.  They've since passed away, never knowing what became of Jacobson's remains.

McDonald, who himself later served as a staff sergeant in the Air Force, said his uncle had considered his assignment to Hawaii like going to paradise.

Before Jacobson's reburial, the family placed a few momentos in the casket-- a USS Oklahoma baseball cap, a handkerchief from Jacobson's mother with the aroma of her perfume and a photo of their home in Grayslake.

"I was overwhelmed," McDonald said.  "We've been waiting a long tme."

--GreGen

Fifty Facts About D-Day-- Part 4: Higgins Boats

31.  It was supposed to happen one month earlier.

32.  Nature played a key role.   Weather almost caused another delay in June.

33.  Higgins Boats (LCVPs) took on D-Day.

34.  D-Day films have become very popular in American culture.  "The Longest Day" and "Saving Private Ryan" of course.

35.  A movie star was at D-Day.  Henry Fonda was a quartermaster on the destroyer USS Satterlee at D-Day.  He also was in the movie "The Longest Day."

36.  Many other famous people were at D-Day.  Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, author J.D. Salinger and Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers.  Also golf great Bobby Jones and British actor David Niven and  Charles Durning.

Before he played Scotty" on "Star Trek," actor James  Doohan sustained six wounds and lost his middle finger at Juno Beach.

37.  Gargantuan supply shipments preceded the invasion.

38.  17 million maps were needed.

39.  The landings opened a supply line.

40.  Artificial harbors supported the supply lines.

I'm Hit, Capt. Kirk!  I'm Hit.  --GreGen

WW II Acronyms and Words-- Part 5: Segregated Armed Forces

SEGREGATED ARMED FORCES

The Army was segregated  The soldier giving these said he was in a segregated Army.

The soldiers in the 92nd Infantry Division were Blacks and fought in Italy as part of the 5th Army.  Also serving in Italy were the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an all Nisei unit--  Americans of Japanese descent.

Here and there, depending upon the section of the country and the officers, there were integrated units.

In World War I. Blacks served with the French units.

As far as his military career he said that after training at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, the football team was desegregated.  The troop ships going over were segregated with black troops fore and aft.

In 1946, while at Camp Crowder in Joplin, Missouri, I went to a baseball game in Kansas City.  As I sat in the ballpark, I kept thinking something wasn't kosher.  Finally in the 7th inning stretch, I realized I was in a segregated park.

Back home all our teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and New York Yankees all played in integrated parks.

--GreGen

Dubuque, Iowa, In World War II-- Part 2: Mass Induction and Baseball Game

"A mass induction of Navy recruits was planned for August 23, 1942, prior to a baseball game scheduled for Navy Day.  An entrance fee was charged with all the money given to the Navy Relief Society.

"Family members were later encouraged to write positive letters to their relatives in the armed forces and not burden them with problems at home."

--GreGen

Navy Day in Dubuque, Iowa, August 23, 1942-- Part 4: One Helluva Team

Baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane, the former star catcher for the Detroit Tigers, was appointed supervising officer in charge of athletics at Great Lakes and he assembled a formidable team of players who had left their American and National league teams to join America's war effort.

Throughout the war, the training facility's baseball teams compiled a record of 188-32 in exhibition contests.

Probably Stacked the Field.  --GreGen

Navy Day in Dubuque, Iowa, August 23, 1942-- Part 3: Great Lakes Wins By Lopsided 16-1 Score

4,000 SEE GREAT LAKES NINE WIN HERE

"The colors of Old Glory -- red, white and blue -- predominated as the crowd watched Naval officers swear Dubuqueland men into service.  The color of green -- the proceeds of the game --  went to Navy relief.  And the color of big-league baseball prevailed as the crowd watched the Great Lakes' star-studded team lick the Naval Pre-Flight Training School 16-1.

"The latter color in part was provided by a home run with the bases full by Chet Hajduk of the Chicago White Sox, the battery of Johnny Rigney and old "Iron Mike" Cochrane, and the appearance of Benny McCoy, Johnny Lucadello, Don Padgett, Ernie Andres, Joe Grace and Sam Harshaney -- all former major-league stars.

"The victory here was the second consecutive lopsided win for Great Lakes over the Seahawks in two days.  The win was the 59th of the year for the men coached by Lt. Gordon Cochrane, the above-mentioned Mr. "Iron Mike" or "Mickey" of professional baseball fame."

The Seahawks trained in Iowa City, Iowa, home of the Iowa Hawkeyes, hence the name Seahawks.

--GreGen

Navy Day in Dubuque, Iowa, 1942-- Part 2: Lots of Memories This Day

"Memories of some will center on the colorful ceremonies of the flag raising and mass inductions of the naval recruits before the baseball game; for some it will be the memory of witnessing a son, a brother, a sweetheart, a husband, or a pal being sworn into service with the nation's armed forces at an hour of great peril; and for some it will be the thrill of witnessing some of the greatest stars of baseball perform, even if the game was a one-sided affair.

"But the big result of the day is that a substantial sum of money will be added to the Navy Relief Society Fund, all proceeds of the day going to that fund."

(Former major-league players starred during the exhibition game, as the Telegraph Herald reported on August 24, 1942.)

--GreGen

Navy Day in Dubuque, Iowa, 1942-- Part 1: 32 Enlisted and a Baseball Game

From the August 24, 2017, Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald "75 years ago: Bravery, baseball on display" by Erik Hogstrom.

I wrote about this last week, August 24.

Here is the Telegraph Herald story from August 24, 1942:

"There are several thousand residents of Dubuque and Dubuqueland who will long cherish happy memories of Dubuque's Navy Day program.

"They include the approximately 4,000 persons who jammed the stands of the Municipal Athletic Field on Sunday afternoon to witness the inductions of 32 Dubuqueland recruits into the U.S. Navy and the baseball game between the Great Lakes Naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Ill., and the Navy Pre-Flight Training School of Iowa City.

--GreGen

Navy Day in Dubuque 75 Years Ago

From the August 24, 2017, Dubuque (Iowa) Telegraph Herald "75 years ago: Bravery, baseball on display" by Erik Hogstrom.

Dubuque's World War II effort took a major leap forward 75 years ago this week.  Thousands of residents filled the stands of the city's baseball stadium on August 23, 1942, to witness the mass induction of dozens of local men into the U.S. Navy.

Dubuque capped its "Navy Day" celebration with an exhibition baseball game featuring a military team packed with former Major League Baseball players who had joined the service.

--GreGen

The USS Bayfield (APA-33)-- Part 1: Served in Three Wars

From Wikipedia.

Yogi Berra served aboard this vessel during World War II.

A Bayfield-class attack transport named for Bayfield, Wisconsin.  This ship participated in three wars and atomic testing.  And, as I wrote about earlier in the week, was the ship that famous New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra served on during World War II.  (Evidently not the Coast Guard ship Buckley as reported in the article.  I could not find any mention of a Coast Guard ship of that name.)

It was commissioned 20 November 1943 and decommissioned 28 June 1968.

It received four Battle Stars in World War II, four in the Korean War and two in the Vietnam War.

The Bayfield was scrapped in September 1969.

--GreGen

Yogi At War-- Part 4: First to Receive the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award

When the team behind the Bob Feller Act of Valor Award began preparations for their first awards in 2013, it was an easy decision in Yogi Berra's case.  Said founder Peter Fertig:  We all agreed -- that was the one thing that the board all agreed to -- that Yogi  should have been first, and he was."

Berra received the honor, named for another Hall of Famer noted for his wartime naval service, pitcher Bob Feller.  Berra received the award at his museum in Montclair, New Jersey.  He was also honored there last June on  the 70th anniversary of D-Day for his service that day.

"He was a humble person, "Fertig said pf Berra.  "He was a warm, caring human being who served at a very delicate time in our nation's history.  And he was an instrumental part of it, being at D-Day."

Quite the Amazing Person, Even If he Was a New York Yankee.  --GreGen (White Sox Fan)

Yogi At War-- Part 3: Very Impressive Baseball Stats

Yogi Berra played that major league team and did well, but he was still an unknown., but that was not for long.

He was in the majors with the Yankees at the tail end of the 1946 season and earned his first of ten World Series rings as a Yankee player in 1947 and was voted into his first All-Star game in 1948.

From Wikipedia.

Born 1925  Died September 22, 2015, age 90.

Lifetime Stats:

.285 batting average
358 home runs
1,430 RBIs

18-times All-Star
13 World Series Championships (some as a manager or coach)
3 times AL MVP:  1951, 1954, 1955.

Not Bad for a Swabbie.  --GreGen

Yogi At War-- Part 2: On Rocket Ship at D-Day

Yogi Berra spent D-Day on a 36-foot long boat just off the Normandy coast that lobbed rockets inland in support of the troops on the beaches.

He remembered getting in some trouble then:  "I kept coming up top to look around, and they kept telling me to get back down there or I'd get hit.  I just wanted to see what was going on.  I liked it more up there!"

Yogi also served in North Africa and Italy before eventually returning to the States to Groton, Connecticut where he joined the submarine base's baseball team; when the club played against the Major League New York Giants.  In that game, Yogi, a Yankee minor-leaguer, went 3-for-4.

--GreGen

Yogi At War-- Part 1: Almost Went With the Army

From the October 12, 2015, Navy Times "Yogi at war: Before pinstripes, Berra donned Navy blue" by Kevin Lilley.

Many consider Yogi Berra as the greatest catcher in history, but in 1943, he first year in pro baseball, he hit .253 with a midlevel minor league baseball team.  But, like many other professional sports figures of the time, Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra joined the military.

Yogi Berra died September 22, 2015, at age 90.

But, before getting to the majors, he left the diamond to serve in the Navy during World War II.  He remembered:  "I almost joined the Army after I had enlisted in the Navy.  The Army would have allowed me to spend a couple weeks back home before I shipped out.  But, off I went to the Navy."

He headed to Europe aboard the Buckley, a Coast Guard attack transport.  Both his ship and Berra had been pressed into Navy service for the Allied invasion of German-occupied France.

There is some confusion here as I can find no mention of a Coast Guard ship named the Buckley, but several sources have Berra serving on the USS Bayfield, an attack transport.

--More to Come.  --GreGen

The Cubs, World War II and Chicago in 1945-- Part 12: After the Series

Upon returning to Boyceville, Andy Pafko was greeted by an airplane trailing a banner proclaiming:  "Our hero is back home."  The town honored him with a banquet, and then he changed into overalls.  "The cows had to be milked," he recalled.

Shortstop Lennie Merullo was determined that his memories wouldn't fade.  For the World Series, he was replaced with a more experienced player, Roy Hughes.  But he got into the sixth game and was spiked by a Tigers player, leaving him with a 3-inch gash on his forearm.  In the clubhouse, a doctor had no sooner sewn him up than Merullo started pulling out the stitches.  For weeks he picked at the scab, determined to have a flesh-and-blood souvenir.

"Even now, 50 years later, I'll stare at that scar, Merullo told a Trib reporter in 1995.  "And, I'll say to myself: 'You were there, Len.  You played in a World Series."

Lenny Merullo died May 30, 2015.  Probably one of the last members of the 1945 Chicago Cubs.

--GreGen

The Cubs, World War II and Chicago in 1945-- Part 11: The '45 Series

The Cubs took two of the three games played in Detroit as they returned to Chicago.  The Tigers then took two games in a row.  The Cubs won the sixth game in extra innings.

But, in the first inning of the final game, the Tigers exploded for five runs and went on to win the game 9-3, making them the 1945 World Series Champions.

The Cubs were left with regrets for what might have been -- and memories of having almost made it to baseball's mountaintop.

But, considering how good the team was and past National League Championships, surely, there was next year and likely another shot at the championship.

Little Did Anyone Know....  --GreGen

The Cubs, World War II and Chicago in 1945-- Part 10: Prim Does It

On the next to the last day of the 1945 season, the Cubs clinched the National League title with a 6-5 win over the Cardinals.  (I love it when we beat the Cardinals.)    The Tribune reported:  "Ray Prim, whose relief pitching restored order in a threatening eighth inning, was mobbed by manager Charlie Grimm and the Cubs when the last Card was out.

"There were more congratulations for the 38-year-old southpaw after he and the other Cubs had been cheered hysterically by hundreds of fans lining the ramp to the clubhouse."

In the World Series that followed, the Cubs took an early lead over the Detroit Tigers, winning two of three games played in Detroit.

Joy in Chicago.  --DaCubter

The Cubs, World War II and Chicago in 1945-- Part 9: Andy Pafko Walking to Help Dad Pay Mortgage on Farm

Cub players Andy Pafko and Claude Passeau lived at Sheridan Plaza Hotel and walked to the ballpark, attracting fans.''"Sometimes, fans would keep us company for a block or two," Pafko told a Tribune reporter.  "I liked to save streetcar fare because I was sending money home to help Dad pay off the mortgage on the farm."

Pafko's parents had emigrated from Slovakia to Boyceville, Wisconsin.  Hard-working, they had never seen their son play -- until one day that season, neighbors insisted they would milk the cows at the Pafkos and they should go down to Chicago.

That day, Pafko hit a grand slam and screaming fans leaped to their feet.  Pafko's parents didn't know if the fans were yelling for or at their son until a man in the next box leaned over and explained:  "Your son did the best thing a ballplayer can."

--GreGen

1945 Chicago Cubs, Last Trip to the World Series Before 2016

Baseball Reference.com.

Some of the names I've been mentioning are familiar, others aren't, so I went to this site and found out the names of the starters for the 1945 Cubs.

Main Position Players and batting averages:

Catcher--  Mickey Livingston .254
First Base--  Phil Cavarretta--  .355
Second Base-- Don Johnson--  .302
Shortstop--  Lennie Merullo--  .239
Third Base--  Stan Hack--  .323
Outfield--  Peanuts Lowery--  .283
Outfield--  Andy Pafko--  .298
Outfield--  Bill Nicholson-- .243

Main Pitchers with win-loss and ERA:

Hank Wyse--  22-10  2.68
Claude Passeau--  17-9  2.46
Paul Derringer--  16-11  3.45
Ray Prim--  13-8  2.40
Hank Borowy--  11-2  2.13

Imagine What Some of These Guys Would Be Making Today With Their Stats.  --GreGen

The Cubs, World War II and Chicago in 1945-- Part 8: Long-Time Cubs

Stan Hack spent his whole career with the Cubs.  So too did Don Johnson, the second baseman.  First baseman Phil Cavarretta was a Cubbie for twenty years.  He came to the team from Lane Technical High School, just west from Wrigley Field  on Addison Street.  After his playing days, he worked in a clothing store on Cicero Avenue.  "You know, taking shoulder measurements and pants lengths," he said.

Given their modest salaries, players had to be penny-pinchers.  Pitcher Claude Passeau and center fielder Andy Pafko both lived at the Sheridan Plaza Hotel at Wilson Avenue and Sheridan Road.  Both were farm boys and walked to and from Wrigley Field.  That allowed admirers a close-up view.

--GreGen