Memorial Day: Athletes who served in the military

Sometimes even superstar athletes are required to answer their country’s call for help. Here is a look at some athletes who took up arms in defense of what they believed in.

Perhaps the most iconic modern-day sportsperson to have served. Tillman was offered a multi-million dollar contract by the Arizona Cardinals but rejected it to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan where he was killed in a friendly-fire incident.

The baseball Hall-of-Famer is one of the most iconic Yankees of all time, but before his baseball career, he was storming the beaches of Normandy as part of the D-Day invasion force.

‘Concrete Charlie’ was an indefatigable member of the Philadelphia Eagles 1960 NFL Championship team, but before that, he was a member of the US Air Force and flew over 30 missions in World War II.

Another Yankees legend who served during the Second World War, Di Maggio hated that he was held back from the front despite his pleas to be treated like every other soldier.

After graduating from the US Air Force Academy, Hennings would be deployed during the Gulf War, flying over 45 combat missions. The Cowboys had selected Hennings in the 1988 draft knowing his Air Force commitments would keep him out of football initially. When he finally joined the team he would go on to win three Super Bowls.

After a moderately successful career in professional basketball, Tim James would go on to enlist in the US Army and serve in Iraq. Not wanting to be treated differently, he kept his previous career a secret during his service.

An Olympian in 1908 as part of Great Britain’s track and field team, Chavesse served in WWI with his identical twin brother Christopher. Noel would win two Vicotria Cross medals (the highest award in the British military) during the war, one of only three men to have done so.

Kalsu was the Buffalo Bills rookie of the year in 1968 as he went from eighth-round rookie to starting at guard. He was sent to Vietnam as part of his ROTC obligation where he was tragically killed in action.

Some regard Louis as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, but it was his decision to fight in the Second World War and his outspoken support of the efforts against the Axis powers which truly cemented Louis into the American consciousness.

Mays was a 24-time All-Star during his career, marking him out as one of the best to ever play baseball. But before he ever stood at a professional batter’s box, he was drafted to serve in the Korean War in 1952.

Rohblock spent her career winning bobsled medals all over the world, including a silver at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She has also served as a staff sergeant in the US National Guard for over two decades.

The Heisman Trophy winner and two-time Super Bowl champion Staubach was part of the Navy Supply Corps after he was found to be colorblind. He volunteered to serve for one year in Vietnam instead of staying in the States. He would eventually join up with the Dallas Cowboys and the rest is history.

The 6’9” former Army Ranger was certainly an intriguing prospect to the NFL, but after being cut as a defensive end by the Eagles, it was the Steelers who harnessed his immense size using him as a tackle. Before all that he was a captain in the US Army and served three tours in Afghanistan.

The man who almost single-handedly broke the color barrier in the MLB, Robinson also served in the US Army. By all accounts a good soldier, Robinson was honorably discharged after racial tensions grew as he refused to give up his seat to a white officer. Perhaps foreshadowing what would come in his baseball career.

Across the world there have been thousands of athletes who have answered their country’s call in times of need, from the killing fields of Flanders to the beaches of Normandy and beyond, we should remember these people for paying the ultimate sacrifice.