Phil Rizzuto, Navy
Like so many other Major League Baseball players of that era, New York Yankees’ great Phil Rizzuto spent three years in the service when the United States entered World War II.
It was there that he began playing baseball, at the Naval Training Station in Norfolk, Virginia between 1943 and 1945. He returned to the Yankees for the 1946 season.
Bill Sharman, U.S. Navy
William Walton Sharman is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what some consider the greatest backcourt duo of all time.
But after graduating from the University of Southern California, Sharman served during World War II from 1944 to 1946 in the US Navy. After his service, Sharman would become the first North American sports figure to win a championship as a player, coach, and executive.
Tom Seaver, Marine Corps
One of the biggest reasons Tom Seaver became known as “Tom Terrific” with the New York Mets, in his own eyes, was because he served in the Marine reserves before embarking on a career that would enshrine him in Cooperstown.
During the Vietnam War, Seaver served an eight-year commitment, including three months of boot camp, three months of active duty at Camp Pendleton outside of San Diego and 5½ years of reserve obligation. Seaver would say that finishing boot camp was one of his most gratifying accomplishments, and gave him a great sense of pride to wear his military uniform.
Ken Norton Sr., Marine Corps
Ken Norton Sr., the venerated boxer who once broke the jaw of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, was always a great athlete. He earned a football, basketball, and track scholarship to Northeast Missouri State College, and it wasn’t until he enlisted in the Marine Corps that Ken was introduced to boxing.
In time, Norton became the best boxer to ever fight for the Marine Corps, where he became a corporal. Eventually, Norton was inducted into the into the Marine Corps Sport Hall of Fame.
Alejandro Villanueva, U.S. Army
While Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva may be a member of the black and gold, he is also the member of another elite team: the U.S. Army Rangers. After earning his Ranger tab at Fort Benning in 2010 following graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he served with the 75th Ranger Regiment, 1st Battalion and did three combat tours to Afghanistan.
A second-generation military man, Villanueva was born on Naval Air Station Meridian in Meridian, Mississippi, to Ignacio Villanueva, a Spanish Naval officer who worked for NATO.