Saluting The Veterans On Their Day

Jay Hanna Dean was born January 16th 1910 in Lucas, Arkansas.

Before the Cardinals retired his number 17 from use. Before he was inducted into the baseball hall of fame. Before he won 30 games (!) in 1934 and led a staff immortalized as the ‘Gashouse Gang’, young Dean was just a kid that wanted to join the Army.

Yes, kid.

Dean was only 16, but he convinced Army recruiters that he was 18 and enlisted in 1926. It was during his time stationed in Texas that he got the nickname Dizzy – some say for the way his fastball made batters feel during pick-up games on the base, some say for his knack for, you know, being a stupid 16 year old boy.

There was a time not to long ago where Dean’s military service before a professional athletic career wouldn’t have been uncommon. Baseball greats like Stan Musial, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams all served the stars n’ bars en route to becoming baseball idols.

In fact, here’s a list from NBC Sports. It’s an impressive collection.

Professional sports have become too big of a business to allow for an athlete to take years off from dedicated training in order to enlist in the military and then come back. We’ve known this for a while.

And it is what it is.

Somewhere, though – right now – an 17 year old is choosing their path in life. And he or she is going to choose a path that eschews possible fame and fortune through sports in order to protect our freedoms as Americans.

We won’t know his story. We won’t learn her name. And they’ll be fine with that.

I know you know it’s not an easy choice to make – to serve our country when the rewards for doing so aren’t great. It’s important to remember, though, that the sacrifices aren’t generic and that every man and woman who have enlisted in our military have a story.

Thank them, yes. Of course.

But as we celebrate Veteran’s Day, it’s OK to ask them about their story as well. And you never know, you might just find one more fascinating than Dizzy Dean’s.

Also, as Mountain Fresh reminds us… Lee Greenwood:

Photo: MLB HOF