Second Tour of Duty

[Appling]

Much has been said in this forum about the career records Ted Williams MIGHT HAVE SET if he had not missed five MLB seasons due to his two tours of military service.

yes, Ted entered WWII at the height of his career -- he hit .406 to win the AL Batting Title in 1941, followed by a Triple Crown season in 1942 -- and then off to war for three seasons. But was it "unfair"? There were probably HUNDREDS of MLB players who lost baseball time due to their service in WWII. Their country was at war and they served honorably. I don't recall that Williams ever complained about that -- in fact, he applied to become a reserve officer and he became a marine pilot.

But then Ted was recalled to active duty in the Korean conflict. To my knowlege, only two MLB players (Ted Williams of the Red Sox and Jerry Coleman of the Yankees) served tours in both WWII and Korea. Was it fair?

How do you remember Ted's reaction to being called to serve a second tour?
Was he happy to serve his country again?
Did he quietly accept his fate and do his job?
Did he complain of the unfairness but report because he had to?

[Brian McKenna]

Didn't men choose to take reserve duty to shorten their WWII commission or something along those lines? Therefore, they were rolling the dice - gaining in the present for a % guess that they won't be needed in the future.

You can't take one huge benefit and then bemoan the fact that you're bet didn't pan out 100%.

[Appling]

Didn't men choose to take reserve duty to shorten their WWII commission or something along those lines? Therefore, they were rolling the dice - gaining in the present for a % guess that they won't be needed in the future.

You can't take one huge benefit and then bemoan the fact that you're bet didn't pan out 100%.

Once you accept a commission as Officer, you also accept a longer period of reserve duty obligation. Some become officers because they want the benefits (including higher pay and higher status) -- but I truly believe Ted took a commission because he wanted to fly. He felt he could serve his country better as a pilot -- and a pilot has to be a commissioned officer.

I agree that when you accept a reserve commission, you accept a higher risk of being recalled to active duty in a future conflict. (It happened to me too.)
Recall to active duty may be upsetting but not a surprise!

[Seels]

I've read that Ted was unhappy about it, that he felt Uncle Sam was making an example of him. He was mad that he was in his 30s, married, with a kid, and a national figure, and they chose him. He thought the reason they took him was to gain popularity for the war.

Little known fact: His co-pilot for half of his missions in Korea was John Glenn.

[TigerNation]

I don't ever recall hearing Ted Williams complain about being called back. I remember reading that once while he was at a dinner a writer brought up the subject about what he could have accomplished if he didn't serve in two wars, and Ted simply waved him off saying he served his country and that's more important than any baseball record.

[hellborn]

I don't think that he meant to go public with it, but I've read that Ted was furious at the time...and, he also had a miserable experience in Korea, and was very upset that his unit wasn't even supplied with basics like decent sleeping quarters and proper uniforms for the bad weather they experienced there.
You'd think that kind of stuff would have been fixed after many of the soldiers in the Bulge didn't even have decent winter clothing and some of them froze...guess it's more exciting to buy new planes and tanks instead of boring stuff like good boots and warm coats.

[yanks0714]

Ted resented being called back to active duty. The military wanted him, as a well known celebrity, to pose for recruiting pictures. Ted flat refused. He did his duty in Korea, but don't think he was 'voluntering' in any shape, matter, or form.

In his first tour, Ted served as a FI (Flight Instructor), never leaving the continental United States. He was deemed to valuable as a FI to be sent overseas (although he was designated near the ned of the war but the war ended before he was shipped out).

The Navy asked him to pass some pilots below the cutoff point because they needed pilots desperately. Ted refused to do so. he figured passing sub-par pilots was only going to get them killed.
As the war was winding down, the need for pilots decreased. The Navy then wanted him to 'fail' some pilots over the cutoff grade. Again, Ted refused.

It's not many who can stand up to the military dictum and brass, but Ted Williams was not your average guy. He was stubborn as they come and stuck to his guns. Ya gotta admire him for that.

[Brian McKenna]

Little known fact: His co-pilot for half of his missions in Korea was John Glenn.

Somehow I don't think that was the case.

Glenn was assuredly the lead pilot with Williams flying another plane off Glenn's wing.

[hellborn]

Yeah, good catch, Brian...the F9 Panther Ted flew was a single seater. One of them would have been a wingman, not a copilot.
Didn't Ted claim that his hearing was damaged from his crash and from having horrible sinus/cold problems due to the weather and poor housing?

[Appling]

It's not many who can stand up to the military dictum and brass, but Ted Williams was not your average guy. He was stubborn as they come and stuck to his guns. Ya gotta admire him for that.

To me, Ted Williams was the "Real Life JOHN WAYNE".
About the same size, and Ted even had a voice much like Wayne's.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Somehow I don't think that was the case.

Glenn was assuredly the lead pilot with Williams flying another plane off Glenn's wing.

That's how they tell it at the John Glenn Museum in Ohio.