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SSgt Michael Frederick
to remember
Marine LtCol Gerald Coleman (Jerry).
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Contact Info
Home Town San Jose
Last Address San Diego
Date of Passing Jan 05, 2014
Location of Interment Miramar National Cemetery (VA) - San Diego, California
Recently published autobiography, "An American Journey."
Other Comments:
Jerry Coleman's baseball career was interrupted by service in the Marine Corps during two wars. His philosophy was, "When you're country calls, you go. That's it."
In 1949, Jerry Coleman became a member of the New York Yankees. He played second base, and was awarded Rookie of the Year with a batting average of .275, 2 home runs, and 42 runs batted in. The following season, he was an American League All-Star, and was the Most Valuable Player in the 1950 World Series, when the Yankees swept the Philadelphia Phillies in four games. He played in six World Series, winning four World Series with the New York Yankees. He was one of the best defensive second basemen of all time, having committed only 89 errors in 3,168 fielding opportunities, and turned 532 double plays. He played in 402 games before the 1952 season. He was called up for active duty in the Korean War. After finishing his combat tour in Korea, he rejoined the Yankees and played in 321 games. He retired from playing baseball in 1957, and has a .263 lifetime batting average with 16 home runs.
After retiring from baseball, Lt. Colonel Coleman began his distinguished career as a sports announcer with the New York Yankees (1963 - 1969), the California Angels (1970 - 1971), CBS Radio's Network Game of the Week (22 seasons), and he currently is the radio voice of the San Diego Padres baseball team (1972 - 1979, 1981 - present). He is famous for his phrase, "Oh doctor, you can hang a star on that baby!" In 1980, he left the radio booth to manage the San Diego Padres for one season, and returned back to the booth, continuing his long association with the Padres, which includes working with many charitable events. He was inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame in 2001. On February 22, 2005, he was named the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence and will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Luzon Campaign (1944-45)
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
April / 1945
Description On December 15, 1944, landings against minimal resistance were made on the southern beaches of the island of Mindoro, a key location in the planned Lingayen Gulf operations, in support of major landings scheduled on Luzon. On January 9, 1945, on the south shore of Lingayen Gulf on the western coast of Luzon, General Krueger's Sixth Army landed his first units. Almost 175,000 men followed across the twenty-mile (32 km) beachhead within a few days. With heavy air support, Army units pushed inland, taking Clark Field, 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Manila, in the last week of January.
Two more major landings followed, one to cut off the Bataan Peninsula, and another, that included a parachute drop, south of Manila. Pincers closed on the city and, on February 3, 1945, elements of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila and the 8th Cavalry Regiment (organized as infantry) passed through the northern suburbs and into the city itself.
As the advance on Manila continued from the north and the south, the Bataan Peninsula was rapidly secured. On February 16, paratroopers and amphibious units simultaneously assaulted the islet of Corregidor. It was necessary to take this stronghold because troops there can block the entrance of Manila Bay. The Americans needed to establish a major harbor base at Manila Bay to support the expected invasion of Japan, planned to begin on November 1, 1945. Resistance on Corregidor ended on February 27, and then all resistance by the Japanese Empire ceased on August 15, 1945, obviating the need for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.
Despite initial optimism, fighting in Manila was harsh. It took until March 3 to clear the city of all Japanese troops, and the Japanese Marines, who fought on stubbornly and refused to either surrender or to evacuate as the Japanese Army had done. Fort Drum, a fortified island in Manila Bay near Corregidor, held out until 13 April, when a team of Army troops went ashore and pumped 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the fort, then set off incendiary charges. No Japanese soldiers in Fort Drum survived the blast and fire.
In all, ten U.S. divisions and five independent regiments battled on Luzon, making it the largest American campaign of the Pacific war, involving more troops than the United States had used in North Africa, Italy, or southern France.