New York Giants Eddie Grant 1914. Killed in Action in France 1918. @baseballinpix @thorn_john @PhilHecken @ntlpastime @SFGiants @UniWatch @BeautyOfAGame @SABRbioproject @SABRPictorial @HofDigital @SportsDaysPast @GraigKreindler @JournSportHist pic.twitter.com/UNX1Dwunel
— ManCave Pictures (@ManCavePhotos) May 27, 2018
[Editor’s Note: Paul is on vacation and will return on May 30. Deputy editor Phil Hecken is running the site until then.]
Memorial Day Wishes…
Today is May 28th, 2018, the calendar date we’re observing Memorial Day this year. Best wishes to one and all.
The above tweet comes from Chris Whitehouse, who (as many of you know) posts as “ManCave Pictures” (and who I’ve featured on Uni Watch several different times). That image above is Eddie Grant, or more fully, Captain Edward Leslie Grant, who was the first major league ballplayer killed in action during World War I when he was hit by machine gun fire on October 5, 1918 in the Argonne Forest near Verdun, France. The death would occur only 40 days before the end of the Great War. You may know he had a very prominent memorial. (There’s a good story about the monument here).
Grant is one of the many we are honoring today — not the government, not the Armed Forces, not our veterans — no, today is the day we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Our war dead. It’s a solemn day and one which we’d do well to more fully appreciate for its true meaning. While it may have become a day for bar-be-ques, sales and unencumbered patriotism, military flyovers and air shows (not to mention the unofficial “kickoff” to summer), that’s not what today was originally about.
Everyone have a safe Memorial Day. Comments are open below. We’ll be back with a full post tomorrow.
Peace.
–Phil
You are correct. Today is for remembering those who gave it all for us.
RIP the man I was named after. Charles E. Reynolds, Jr. USMC. KIA on Okinawa 4-12-1945. Semper Fi Uncle Charles.
In remembrance of all those who have died, a moment of silence today.
Thanks Phil for your comments. Very well said.
Yankees look good in olive green.
Amen.
Thank You for this Phil…well done.
And so many of those who lost their lives were mere kids. We can never thank them enough.
Well said, PH.
I’m guessing that the Cavs are the only team in NBA history to play an entire post season without having any white on their uniforms (minus the NBA logo)…?
Lakers
I’m pretty sure the lakers had a significant amount of white trim on all of their unis