Page 6 - Black History Month 2021 - Combined Special Edition of Luke AFB Thunderbolt Davis-Monthan AFB Desert Lightning News

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SportS heroeS who Served:

WWI Soldier helped desegregate baseball

by owners that they were not welcome.
DAVID VERgUN Rickey was said to have appreciated the
service and sacrifices African Americans made
DoD News
during the first and second World Wars, and he
Branch Rickey was an Army officer was eager to enlist their services in baseball.
in the Chemical Warfare Service during He also remembered a Black player from the
World War I. In his unit, coincidentally, baseball team he coached at Ohio Wesleyan
were future baseball greats Ty Cobb and University in 1903 and 1904 who was denied
Christy Mathewson. Rickey would also hotel accommodations. The incident was said photo from national archives
take a place in baseball history, thanks to have made him furious, and he personally
to his decision to do the right thing. intervened to let the player spend the night Brooklyn Dodgers baseball player
Jackie Robinson in 1950.
In October 1945, as general manager there.
of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Rickey signed Rickey later said, ‘’I may not be able to do
infielder Jackie Robinson, an African something about racism in every field, but I • He was manager and general manager
American, for the Dodgers’ minor league can sure do something about it in baseball.’’ of the St. Louis Browns from 1913 to 1915
organization. Robinson’s later success Then there was the business-practical ele- and in 1919.
with the Dodgers from 1947 to 1956 led ment. The Negro leagues had a lot of talent, • He helped to devise the farm system of
other owners to seek Black talent. and this didn’t go unnoticed by Rickey. training ballplayers in 1919.
This was before the U.S. military Incidentally, Rickey and Robinson were • He was manager and general manager
integrated, which happened July 26, brothers — that is, brothers in arms. Robinson of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1919 to 1942
1948, after President Harry S. Truman served in the Army during World War II. and helped to create the team’s logo, which is
signed an executive order establishing Among Rickey’s many accomplishments courtesy photo still in use today.
the President’s Committee on Equality of and milestones: Branch Rickey as general manager of • He was general manager of the Brooklyn
Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed • In 1902, he played professional football for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1941. Dodgers 1943 to 1950 and of the Pittsburgh
Services, committing the government to the Shelby Blues of the Ohio League, which Pirates from 1950 to 1955.
integrating the then-segregated military. later became known as the National Football baseball, basketball and football, as well as • His teams won World Series champion-
At the time, no statute barred Blacks League. teaching English literature and history. ships in 1926, 1931, 1934 and 1942 and Na-
from playing professional baseball. How- • In 1904 and 1905, he stayed busy at Al- • He played in the major leagues in 1905 tional League pennants in 1928, 1930, 1947
ever, it was an unwritten rule among club legheny College in Pennsylvania, coaching and 1906 with the St. Louis Browns. and 1949.

Always in Control: The Ahamed Sheriff Story

by foreign to me. It was a harsh
Petty Officer 1st Class “I wouldn’t say that I didn’t have a good child- reality of life that I learned
ERICKSON MAgNO hood. I’ve been in many situations that most peo- at a very early age. These
circumstances didn’t break
Pacific Missile Range Facility ple haven’t been in, and I’m proud of what those me because I really try to find
Senior Chief Air Traffic Con- experiences have made me become as a person.” learning and growing opportu-
troller Ahamed Sheriff, senior nities in every experience, no
enlisted leader of PMRF, has matter how devastating it is. I
devoted his time caring for “After high school, I attended It destroyed me emotionally.” think having a strong mindset
Sailors since he enlisted in Alabama State University in His second challenge came is one thing that we truly have
1998, but his younger years hopes of being a basketball a decade later. control over in life.”
proved challenging. star,” said Sheriff. “When that “In 2010 I deployed to Iraq This attitude and mindset
“Honestly, I had what I think didn’t work out, I found myself for 10 months,” said Sheriff. eventually led to success. He
is unfortunately a typically back in Los Angeles at a com- “It was hard leaving my wife said one of his proudest ac-
traumatic start to life,” said munity college. I just felt like and kids — knowing it was a complishments in the Navy
Sheriff. “I was born and raised I was at a crossroads in life possibility I wouldn’t be com- was when his mother saw
in Los Angeles, back and forth and I didn’t want to become a ing back.” him graduate with a master’s
between South Central and statistic. So, I joined the Navy Although loss of life, threats degree, a tremendous ac-
Mid-Town. Both neighbor- on September 27, 1998.” of death, and adversity sur- complishment as the first in
hoods were highly volatile and Just two years into the Navy, rounded Sheriff throughout his family to graduate from
heavily influenced by drugs he was faced with adversity dur- his life, these experiences college.
and gangs throughout my ing an unimaginable situation. helped him become better Another proud accomplish-
mass communication specialist 1st class childhood. I have four sisters “On May 4, 2001, one of prepared to face the future. ment was being pinned to the
erickson B. magno and was primarily raised by a my best friends killed an- “I really believe that seeing rank of chief petty officer in
Senior Chief Air Traffic Controller Aha- single mother. My mother di- other one of my best friends and going through some of the 2013.
med Sheriff, assigned to the Pacific Mis- vorced my abusive father when after a verbal and physical things I went through growing “Making Chief for me was
sile Range Facility, poses for a photo I was around six years old.” dispute over money while I up in Los Angeles, prepared the culmination of all the blood,
in the public affairs office. PMRF is the Childhood hardened Sher- was stationed at Pearl Har- me for these challenging times sweat and tears that my family
world’s largest instrumented multi-en- iff and impacted him as a bor,” said Sheriff. “It was a in a twisted way,” said Sheriff. and I put into the Navy,” said
vironment range capable of supporting brother and son. Soon enough, tragic loss of two lives in one “I’m almost ashamed to say Sheriff. “I wear the anchors
surface, subsurface, air and space op- it would contribute to him as night, one dead and the other it, but it’s true. Experienc-
erations simultaneously. a Sailor. sentenced to a life in prison. ing death wasn’t something See ahameD, Page 10