5-at-10: A special Memorial Day top five of athletes making military sacrifice

Happy Memorial Day to everyone.

It's Monday, so that means 5-at-10 regardless. Let's follow the same thought process as TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer's excellent story today and in the memory of the ultimate sacrifices paid by those bravest among us to allow us to enjoy the greatest country in the world. Let's have a top-five athletes in the military. Deal? Deal.

Side note: This list has some balance - meaning combination between military story and sports accomplishments - and personal preference plays a part too.

Here's our five:

1) Ted Williams - Teddy Ballgame finished with 521 homers and a .344 average. He's arguably the greatest hitter ever, and lost five years of his prime as a Marine fighter pilot. He enlisted in 1942 after winning the triple crown in 1941. He flew 39 combat missions in WWII and the Korean war.

2) Pat Tillman - After the Sept. 11 attacks, the former All-American safety and rising Arizona Cardinals star left his $3.6 million contract and enlisted as an Army Ranger. He was killed by friendly fire on April 22, 2004.

3) Art Donovan - The jovial and big-hearted and hard-laughing NFL Hall of Famer with the Baltimore Colts became famous to the current generation on David Letterman. Donovan joined the Marines before going to college and was an anti-aircrafted gunner in WWII. After his decorated military career that included more than a year at sea and a tour at Okinawa, Donovan was a two-time champ with the Colts and inducted into Canton in 1968.

4) Joe Louis - While holding the heavyweight title from 1937-49 - back when being the heavyweight champ was the coolest thing in all of sports - Louis joined the Army and served in a variety of roles until 1945. One of the African American men he helped train in the Office Candidate School was a kid named Jackie Robinson.

5) Warren Spahn - Spahn's numbers were impressive. He finished with 363 wins and was a 14-time all-star. And he did that starting his big-league career at 25 - he did win 23 games as a 42-year-old - because he joined the Army before making his big-league debut in 1946. Enlisting in 1942, Spahn was a combat engineer at the Battle of the Bulge and received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.

Who are your favorites?

Happy Memorial Day.

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