The War Hero

"Every outfit ought to have somebody like Hank (Gowdy). The boys idolize him and he gets them all stirred up with his baseball stories. He helps 'em forget about the terror of war."
-Colonel B.W. Hough

The first professional baseball player to enlist in World War I was Boston Braves catcher Hank Gowdy who did so on July 15, 1917. This is the actual uniform Hank wore on the front lines during the fierce fighting in Europe.

Gowdy fought in the spectacular fighting unit known as the "Rainbow Division", dubbed as such by General Pershing. They, it seemed, had the uncanny "luck" of being surrounded by actual rainbows during the heavy combat that they were a part of in France during the war. It was "trench warfare" in the most brutal sense of the word. When Hank returned from the war, a bona fide war hero, he was as popular in Boston as the mayor himself. Incredibly, 23 years later, when World War II broke out, Gowdy sought to serve his country again and at age 53 was commissioned a Major in the United States Army. He again served with distinction. The baseball diamond at Fort Benning, where soldiers enjoy playing the National Pastime, is called Hank Gowdy Field. Gowdy passed away at the age of 76 on August 1, 1966 while living in Columbus, Ohio.

Hank was the catcher on the greatest comeback team in history, the world champion 1914 "Miracle" Boston Braves. He hit .545 in that year's Series leading his team to a 4-0 victory over the Philadelphia A's. It was the first-ever sweep of a World's Series.