Page 170 - Cousins - Celebrities, Saints & Sinners

the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award bestowed by the United States
government. He was selected for the Major League Baseball All-Time Team in 1997 and
the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.

Williams' stats almost certainly would be much higher had he not left baseball to serve his
country - twice. Commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, he trained as a naval
aviator during World War II but saw no combat. Seven years later, reservist Williams was called
up again to serve in the Korean War as a fighter-bomber pilot with the 1st Marine Air Wing.

It was in Korea where Williams met John Glenn, the future astronaut and U.S. senator. They
quickly became good friends, and Williams flew half his missions as Glenn's wingman.

“I had been a baseball fan since I was a boy, and meeting Ted was a thrill,” Glenn recalled in his
autobiography, John Glenn: A Memoir. “He was tall, genial, and easy to like, and he developed a
voracious taste for the chocolate fudge [my wife's] sister, Jane, would send from home. He was
a fine pilot, and I liked to fly with him.”

Williams flew 39 combat missions in Korea and experienced his share of harrowing moments.

Ultimately, Glenn walked away impressed with Williams’s professionalism and patriotism,
hailing him as “a gung-ho Marine.” Williams walked away grateful for his life. Williams would
write in The Boston Globe in 1962: “This was a man destined for something great… John always
had exceptional self-control and was one of the calmest men I have ever met, no matter how
perilous the situation.” Once when enemy anti-aircraft fire ignited flames on Williams’s F9F
Panther Jet, Glenn flew by his window and pointed skyward. Ascending into thinner air,
Williams extinguished the flames—and survived.

Note: My personal contact with Ted Williams was limited and my memories of him as a
baseball player were only of him in his final years as a player. I do know, however, that he was a
fan of the space program and I remember him attending launches and sitting in the VIP area I
was responsible for as he watched from his wheelchair. I believe that one of the times I last saw
him was at the launch of STS-95 when his WW II buddy, John Glenn, flew his last mission in
October 1998.

References:
1. Relative Finder, associated with FamilySearch, and the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS)
2. Boston.com Staff, Dec. 8 2016
3. Wikipedia.org
4. MOAA – Military Officer Association of America
5. Learn more – Ted Williams Special
6. LDS Family Tree attached

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