Mark Hackett Jr

"Yes, I said "No Guts" to a kid who wound up being a war hero and one of the best pitchers anybody ever saw. You can’t say I don’t miss 'em, when I miss 'em." Casey Stengel. Stengel cut one of his pitchers, sending him to the minor league team in Hartford, for lack of courage under pressure. The pitcher was Warren Spahn. The "276th Engineer Combat Battalion" played a conspicuous role at the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen. Retreating Germans failed to destroy this vital Rhine River bridge, allowing Americans to pour across it in great numbers and drive into the heart of Germany. Lieutenant Warren Spahn was not among the casualties when the bridge collapsed, but was wounded in the foot by shrapnel. Warren Spahn became the only MLB player to receive a battlefield commission. The 276th received the "Presidential Unit Citation."

"The first day that Hank Greenberg was in the army, he and the other recruits were lined up. The Sergeant immediately began spouting some anti-Semitic remarks like: "I don't want no Goldbergs and Goldsteins and no Cohns in my unit." Whereupon Hank raised his hand and says: "My name is Greenberg." The Sergeant looks at Hank, 6-3, 6-4, 230 & says: "I didn't say anything about Greenbergs." Dick Schaap. In 1940, the draft board reclassified Hank Greenberg, and month later he was inducted into the Army. The U.S. had yet to enter the war. His salary shrink from $55,000 a year to $21 a week. "I made up my mind to go when I was called. My country comes first." Hank Greenberg.