Veterans Day Salute - Murry Dickson

Dickson had a nondescript card but an eventful life.  He was a member of a reconnaissance unit in World War II that went behind enemy lines to locate German troops.  He fought in the Battle of St. Lo and the Battle of the Bulge, and was one of the first GIs to see the German concentration camp Dachau. He won four battle stars.  At one point in the war, George Patton jumped on top of Dickson in a foxhole to protect himself from enemy fire. Patton asked him to be his driver, an assignment Dickson declined, later saying, “No way, Patton is nuts, he doesn’t think anyone can kill him.”  Patton died in a car accident in Germany six months after the war in Europe ended.  

This photo, which looks like it was taken right after a battle in France, is from Dickson’s personal collection.

Stan Musial said Dickson had “the widest assortment [of pitches] I ever saw.”  He threw at least eight pitches, thrown at varying angles and different speeds. He was 29 when he returned from the war and won 148 games over the next 14 years.