thanks to all veterans, not just these two

i've recently sent out a few ttm requests - mostly to players from the 1978 topps set who for some reason i missed during my ttm heydays a couple years back.  two quick returns came from george mitterwald

and fred stanley

i don't recall much about mitterwald as a player, but his name has come up a couple of times at the local card shows - he was the guy that the twins traded to get randy hundley from the cubs.  hundley didn't do too well in the twin cities.  and, to add insult to injury, mitterwald's first 3 home runs with the cubs came in the same game.

fred stanley i knew more about, just from his having faced the dodgers in the 1978 world series.  i don't recall if he was mentioned in jim bouton's 'ball four', but stanley was on the pilots in the latter part of the 1969 season.

what i didn't know about either of these guys is that they served in the military during the vietnam war. there are quite a few other major leaguers who were active during that time, actually. the only two that i was aware of previously were al bumbry and roy gleason.  bumbry earned a bronze star for his service, and gleason was awarded the purple heart.

anyway, the point of this post is to thank all veterans for their service.  and to thank mitterwald and stanley for signing my cards.