United States Army personnel of World War II

Elmer Kelton (April 29, 1926 – August 22, 2009) was an American author, known for his Westerns. He was born in Andrews County, Texas.
He graduated from the University of Texas in 1948. Kelton worked as the farm and ranch editor of the San Angelo Standard-Times from 1948 to 1963. He served as the associate editor of Livestock Weekly from 1968 to 1990. Kelton's memoir, Sandhills Boy, was published in 2007.
Kelton's novels have won seven Spur Awards, from the Western Writers of America, and three Western Heritage Awards, from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. He also received a Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement.

Felix Laurence Sparks (August 2, 1917 – September 25, 2007) was an American attorney, government official, and military officer from Colorado. A veteran of World War II, he attained the rank of brigadier general in the Colorado Army National Guard and received the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. Sparks also served as District Attorney of Colorado's 7th Judicial District, an Associate Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, and the longtime director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
A native of San Antonio, Sparks was raised and educated in Arizona and served as an enlisted soldier in the United States Army from 1936 to 1938. He then attended the University of Arizona, where he maintained his military interest by taking part in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and several Citizens' Military Training Camps while also serving in the Army Reserve. In 1939, he was called to active duty for World War II, and in 1940 he received his commission as a second lieutenant. Assigned to the 45th Infantry Division, Sparks served with the division's 157th Infantry Regiment throughout the war, from its arrival in North Africa through combat in Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Near the end of the war, Sparks was commander of the 157th Infantry's 3rd Battalion, which he led during its participation in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp. For his wartime service, Sparks was twice awarded both the Silver Star and the Purple Heart, as well as the French Croix de Guerre.
After the war, Sparks graduated from the University of Colorado Law School, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Delta, Colorado. A leader of the local Democratic Party, Sparks served a term as District Attorney of Colorado's 7th Judicial District (1949–1953), and briefly filled a vacancy as an Associate Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court (1956). In 1957, Sparks was appointed attorney for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. In 1958, he became the board's director, and he served in this position until retiring in 1979.
In addition to pursuing careers in law and government, Sparks continued to serve in the military. Assigned as executive officer of the 157th Regimental Combat Team (RCT), a unit of the Colorado Army National Guard, Sparks subsequently commanded the RCT's 1st Battalion. He commanded the 169th Field Artillery Group as a colonel in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including recall to active duty for several months during the Berlin Crisis of 1961. Sparks was promoted to brigadier general in 1968 and assigned as the Colorado National Guard's assistant adjutant general for army and commander of the Colorado Army National Guard. Sparks served in the National Guard until reaching the mandatory retirement age in 1977.
Sparks died in Lakewood, Colorado, on September 25, 2007. He was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

Richard Foote Pedersen (February 21, 1925 – July 11, 2011) was an American diplomat who was a career Foreign Service Officer in the United States State Department and President of the American University in Cairo.

Clarence James Maddern (September 26, 1921 – August 9, 1986) was an American professional baseball outfielder who appeared in 104 Major League games for the Chicago Cubs in 1946, 1948 and 1949, and the Cleveland Indians in 1951. His minor league career extended from 1940 through 1957. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and weighed 185 pounds (84 kg).
Maddern attended the University of Arizona on a baseball scholarship and signed a contract with the Cubs' minor league affiliate Bisbee Bees, in the Arizona–Texas League. His career was interrupted by service from 1943 to 1945 in the United States Army during World War II, when he served in the 76th Infantry Division. Maddern served in France and participated in the Battle of the Bulge.In 1946 Maddern was leading the Texas League in hitting with the Tulsa Oilers before being called up by the parent Cubs. He also was a stalwart in the postwar Pacific Coast League as a star for the Los Angeles Angels and a member of four other PCL clubs. The biggest moment in his career came the night of September 29, 1947, before a sellout crowd in Los Angeles' Wrigley Field. The Angels and the San Francisco Seals had finished in a dead heat for the PCL pennant and met in a one-game playoff. The game was a scoreless tie until Maddern broke it up with a grand slam home run in the eighth inning to give the Angels a 5–0 win over the Seals.Maddern left baseball in 1957, returned to Bisbee and became an insurance agent. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Bisbee, Arizona

Thomas Guy Greenfield (November 10, 1917 – October 9, 2004) was a professional American football center/linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted in the 15th round of the 1939 NFL Draft. Greenfield, who was born in Glendale, Arizona, played for the Green Bay Packers from 1939 to 1941. A member of the 1939 NFL Champion Packers, he played in the annual All-Star Game that year. He played college football at the University of Arizona, where he was a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Andrew Leo Bettwy (May 31, 1920 – January 12, 2004), a Republican, served as Arizona State Land Commissioner from 1970 to 1978 under four Arizona governors.

Alden Partridge Colvocoresses (September 23, 1918 – March 27, 2007) helped to develop the Space-oblique Mercator projection with John P. Snyder and John Junkins, and developed the first satellite map of the United States in 1974.

Harry Reasoner (April 17, 1923 – August 6, 1991) was an American journalist for CBS and ABC News, known for his adroit use of language as a television commentator and as one of the original hosts of the news magazine 60 Minutes (1968–1970, 1978–1991).
Over the course of his career, Reasoner won three Emmy Awards and a George Foster Peabody Award in 1967.

Harvey Donald "Hank" Riebe (October 10, 1921 – April 16, 2001) was a Major League Baseball catcher for four seasons with the Detroit Tigers (1942, 1947–1949). He also received a Bronze Star and two Purple Heart medals while serving in the United States Army during World War II. He was a survivor of the sinking of the troopship SS Leopoldville off the coast of France on December 24, 1944, in which 763 soldiers lost their lives.Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Riebe signed with the Detroit Tigers after graduating from Euclid Shore High School in Cleveland. Riebe played in the minor leagues in Beaumont, Texas, Alexandria, Louisiana, Muskegon, Michigan, Henderson, Texas, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Rieber later recalled: "Detroit really moved players around a lot."
In August 1942, the Tigers called Riebe up to the big leagues. He played his first major league game in Philadelphia on August 26, 1942, in the second game of a Sunday double-header. Riebe hit a two-run double down the left field line. He went 2-for-4 in his major league debut and 4-for-4 a week later in his first game at Briggs Stadium. In all, Riebe hit .314 in 11 games for the Tigers in 1942.
After a promising start to his baseball career, Riebe was drafted into the U.S. Army after the 1942 season ended. He served in the 66th Infantry Division in Europe. On Christmas Eve 1944, Riebe was aboard the SS Leopoldville headed for Cherbourg, France, when it was sunk by torpedoes fired by a German U-boat. Riebe floated in the icy water of the English Channel and a Coast Guard cutter pulled him out. Over 750 American troops lost their lives in the sinking of the Leopoldville. Riebe was awarded a Purple Heart medal for injuries suffered in the Leopoldville sinking and later served with the 66th Infantry as it moved across Europe. In the spring of 1945, Riebe was injured by shrapnel from German artillery, earning his second Purple Heart award.
Riebe recalled listening on the radio from a tent in France as his teammates on the Detroit Tigers won the 1945 World Series.
Released from the military in early 1946, Riebe returned to the Tigers for spring training in 1946, but he did not make the team. He played the 1946 season in the minor leagues with Buffalo and Dallas.
In 1947, Riebe was elevated back to the major leagues but was the Tigers' third catcher behind Bob Swift and Birdie Tebbetts. Riebe played in only 8 games in 1946 and went hitless in 7 at-bats. When the Tigers acquired yet another catcher, Hal Wagner, Riebe was sent to Memphis in the minor leagues.
Riebe played briefly for the Tigers in 1948 and 1949, but he never came close to his .314 batting average of 1942. He hit .194 in 25 games in 1948 and .182 in 17 games in 1949. He played his last major league game for the Tigers on September 17, 1949.
Riebe played in a total of 61 major league games and had a career batting average of .212 and 11 RBIs.
Riebe also played for the Toledo Mud Hens in 1950 before retiring from baseball at age 28.
From 1951 to 1977, Riebe worked for a brass and copper company in Cleveland. He died of cancer in 2001 at age 79. He was born and died in Cleveland.
Riebe's brothers Mel Riebe and Bill Riebe played professional basketball in the National Basketball Association from 1944 to 1949.

Edward Terrance Kazak (July 18, 1920 – December 15, 1999) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1948 to 1952, most prominently as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
After suffering serious injuries during World War II, Kazak recovered to become a Major League Baseball player where, he played in the 1949 All-Star Game as a 28-year-old rookie. Injuries prematurely ended his playing career after just five seasons. He played his final season with the Cincinnati Reds.