Bill Fennhahn
Ballplayers Wounded in Combat
| Date and Place of Birth: | January 21, 1924 Mannheim, Germany |
| Date and Place of Death: | February 16, 1997 Amsterdam, NY |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Pitcher |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | Company E, 5th Ranger Battalion US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
William P. "Bill" Fennhahn was born in Mannheim, Germany, on January 21,
1924. His parents, Wilhelm and Anna Hessman Fennhahn, moved to the
United States when he was very young and settled in upper New York
state. Fennhahn attended Roeliff Jansen Central High School in
Hillsdale, New York, where he excelled as a baseball player. He enlisted
in the Army right after high school graduation in February 1943.
Fennhahn was initially in the combat engineers of the 35th Infantry
Division, stationed in Alabama, and then transferred to the 5th Ranger
Battalion at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, in September 1943. Following
training in England, the Rangers led the Normandy invasion at Omaha
Beach. "The most harrowing part was getting to the top of the first
hill," he recalled 25 years later. "The Germans were using 88s, and they
were firing on almost a flat trajectory, just clearing the top of the
hill."
Fennhahn was back in England after Normandy and was promoted from Corporal to Sergeant before returning to France.
Sergeant Fennhahn was wounded three separate times as the Allied
forces advanced through Europe. The second occasion was a bizarre
incident that occurred while the Rangers were involved in capturing the
town of L'Hopital in France. Fennhahn, who spoke fluent German, was
interrogating a German civilian when another GI in another unit heard
the German and started shooting at close range. On the third occasion he
was in Germany when machine-gun fire broke both his legs and severed
vital nerve fibers. Fennhahn was in hospitals in Europe and the United
States for sixteen months. He was also awarded the Bronze and Silver
Star medals.
Despite these severe injuries, Fennhahn's pre-war ambition to play
professional baseball remained with him. "He tried out for the Giants in
Phoenix, Arizona, and accepted an offer to play with Peekskill," recalls
his widow, Terry Fennhahn. Fennhahn made 13 appearances with the
Peekskill Highlanders in the Class D North Atlantic League in 1946, and
posted a 4-3 record with a 5.18 ERA. The following year - 1947 - he made
three appearances with the Quebec Alouettes in the Class C
Canadian-American League and was 2-0, but recurring leg problems kept
him off the mound for most of the season. He was back with Quebec in
1948 and made 20 appearances with a 4-5 record and 4.60 ERA. "A lot of
guts," said his manager Tony Ravish, "I always pitched him in
seven-inning ball games because he had shrapnel in the back of his legs
... then his legs would get tired naturally. But for seven innings, boy,
he could fire that ball for me!"
"As much as he wanted, he couldn't continue playing professionally,"
recalled his widow, Terry Fennhahn.
Fennhahn continued to play semi-pro baseball, however, well into the
1950s. He enrolled at the State University of New York at Oswego, played
for the baseball team and attained a degree as a bachelor of science. He
was employed as an industrial arts teacher in the Amsterdam School
District for 14 years at the Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School and
for 15 years with the St. Johnsville School District. He also served as
president of the Local 1150 American Federation of Teachers.
In June 1994, Fennhahn, 70, returned to the beaches of Normandy. "Before
I got here, I had the same kinds of feelings I'd had before we made the
landings-on D-Day," he told The Stars and Stripes on June 6, 1994. "In
your mind you visualize everything you did before you hit the beach."
He tried to locate the spot at Omaha Beach where he came ashore. "I went
down to Omaha, but do you think I can find the place that I landed?"
Fennhahn asked. "Everything was flat. Everywhere looked the same."
Bill Fennhahn was a member of the John J. Wyszomirski American Legion
Post 701, secretary of the Amsterdam Bowling Association, and a member
of the Amsterdam Bowling Hall of Fame. He passed away at home in
Amsterdam, New York, on February 16, 1997, following a long illness. He
was 73 years old and is buried at Pine Groves Cemetery in Tribes Hill,
New York.
Date Added December 19, 2017
Can you add more information to this biography and help make it the best online resource for this player? Contact us by email
Read Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice Through The Years - an online year-by-year account of military related deaths of ballplayers
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is associated with Baseball Almanac
Baseball's Greatest Sacrifice is proud to be sponsored by
