"It's hard to imagine Derek Jeter or Tiger Woods heading to Iraq to join the U.S. armed forces.
But in World War II no American man between the ages of twenty and forty-five was too big to serve--except for the basketball players who exceeded the Army's
6'6" limits for recruits, a situation illustrated in this excellent book.
Part log, part pictorial, and total history lesson, this book could be sent to school with your kids and used for social studies class. Riveting and moving."
--Sports Illustrated
"Bloomfield's extensively researched book . . . is a must-have for any sports-history fan.
It's encyclopedic in scope and richly illustrated with fascinating photos."
-- Army Times
"This survey tells, with a refreshing lack of sentimentality, the tales of sportsmen who found themselves in a far deadlier kind of combat.
Bloomfield not only shows us a little-known side of World War II but also surveys a fascinating moment in American sports history."
--Booklist
From the sandlots, asphalt, and cinder tracks of 1930s America, to its country battlefields and stadium gridirons, the spirit of America's youthful athletes was abruptly transformed from doing their best in sports to showing the mettle in life-and-death warfare.
Painstakingly researched and profusely illustrated, Duty, Honor, Victory tells the stories of the well-known athletes whose on-field exploits brought another type of fame, but whose battlefield duty has been long overlooked. Here is football's Chuck Bednarik flying bombing missions over Germany; baseball's Bob Feller commanding an anti-aircraft gun crew aboard the USS Alabama; Warren Spahn wounded and nearly killed when the bridge atRemagen collapses; and Yogi Berra on a rocket boat in Normandy.
Duty, Honor, Victory addresses all sports, from tennis and golf, to baseball, football, and basketball. Included here are stories of well-known professionals, lesser known college players, as well as black athletes who fought for our country during World War II. From the origins of Nazi Germany and imperial Japan in the 1930s through their defeats in 1945--extending into 1946 and the integration of major league baseball--this book shows every aspect of America's athletes in World War II.


"It's hard to imagine Derek Jeter or Tiger Woods heading to Iraq to join the U.S. Armed Forces. But in World War II no American man between the ages of 20 and 45 was too big to serve-except for the basketball players who exceeded the Army's 6'6" limits for recruits, a situation illustrated in this excellent book. Part log, part pictorial, and total history lesson, this book could be sent to school with your kids and used for social studies class. Riveting and moving." -Sports Illustrated
Painstakingly researched and profusely illustrated, DUTY, HONOR, VICTORY tells the stories of the well-known athletes whose onfield exploits brought another type of fame, but whose battlefield duty has long been overlooked. Here is football's Chuck Bednarik flying bombing missions over Germany, baseball's Bob Feller commanding an anti-aircraft gun crew aboard the USS Alabama; Warren Spahn wounded and nearly killed when the bridge at Remagen collapses, or Yogi Berra on a rocket boat in Normandy. Here are boxer Gene Tunney, ballplayer Bert Shepard. Winter Olympic athletes in the famed Tenth Mountain Division, black athletes in the Tuskegee Airmen.
DUTY, HONOR, VICTORY covers all sports, from tennis, golf, and baseball to football, and basketball. The well-known professionals, the lesser-known college athletes, and those who toiled in obscurity-they all performed their duty extraordinarily. DUTY, HONOR, VICTORY covers World War II from the origins of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in the 1930s through their defeats in 1945-and extends into 1946 and the integration of major league baseball.
DUTY, HONOR, VICTORY covers a wide range of athletes, whose love of competition served them well inbattle: Dizzy Dean, Larry Doby, Enos Slaughter, Monte Irvin, Pee Wee Reese, Art Donovan, Pete Gray, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Hoyt Wilhelm, Emlen Tunnell, and scores of others.