Emil Potzer
| Date and Place of Birth: | January 1, 1919 Plymouth, PA |
| Date and Place of Death: | June 15, 1944 Normandy, France |
| Baseball Experience: | College |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | First Lieutenant |
| Military Unit: | Company C, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Emil "Bish" Potzer was born on January 1, 1919, in
Plymouth, Pennsylvania. Plymouth was a coal mining area and money was
scarce for the Potzer family. Yet, the Plymouth High School standout athlete
earned a degree from Rutgers University, working at a bar in a hotel to
earn his way. "[He] knocked himself out to get a college education,"
remembers classmate Leonard Weissburg. "[Emil was] just a generally nice
person."
At Rutgers, Potzer played varsity baseball and football and was an ROTC
cadet. He entered the Army immediately upon graduating in May 1943 and
was commissioned as a second lieutenant in September 1943 at Fort
Bragg, North Carolina.
In June 1944, First Lieutenant Potzer
was sent to Europe as part of an officer replacement pool. Attached to
Company C, 359th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division, he was killed in
action in France on June 15, 1944.
First Lieutenant Potzer, who had wanted to be a football or
baseball coach after the war, is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery in
France.
Emil Potzer (back row, third from left) with the 1937 Plymouth High School football team
Some of this information was obtained from the Oral History Archives of Rutgers University. Thanks to Astrid van Erp for help with this biography.
Date Added February 5, 2013. Update August 6, 2017
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is associated with Baseball Almanac
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is proud to be sponsored by
