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Uni Watch Father’s Day 2021: Our Dads in Uniform

By Phil Hecken

For the past eight years it has been my privilege and pleasure to run photographs of our fathers dressed in uniforms — whether they be sports uniforms, military uniforms, or any other uniform. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and I’m pleased to again run this feature. This year I let readers know they could submit photos of their dads, grandpappys and uncles.

We got some of each, and we even had two kids (separately) salute their dad, as well as a father posting a tribute to his dad, while his son (separately) sent his own submission in, honoring his father. As always, this one-day special tribute post will stand alone (no uni news, no tweaks, no scoreboard, no ticker), and I hope everyone enjoys this, even if you didn’t submit this year.

Happy Father’s Day everyone!

• • • • •

Jim Vilk

This is a 1952 team photo of Iola from the independent KOM (Kansas Oklahoma Missouri) League. I’m pointing to my Uncle Joe, who went 26-6 that season. He’s no longer with us, but his league record for wins in a single season will last forever.

• • • • •

Joe Wagner

Phil –

Attached is a picture of my dad, Richard Wagner. This was taken in Tokyo during the Korean War. He served as an MP in the Army and was stationed in Tokyo for his entire tour. According to him, he was fortunate the most action he ever saw was “busting up drunk soldiers on leave.”

Dad passed away last July at the age of of 85. This will be my first Father’s Day without him. We miss him every day.

– Joe Wagner

• • • • •

Jimmy Corcoran

My Father started getting custom made suits and coats around 1972 when he saw the movie Super Fly, he loved that high mod look and couldn’t get it buying clothes off the rack. He would usually see a movie or a celebrity wearing something he liked then have his tailor make it for him. He had the high waisted suit Jonathan E sported in the 1975 film Rollerball but chose not to wear the bolero hat James Caan wore with it. Though I can still remember every football game I saw my Father play in I am not sure about this coat? I’m not sure if it was based on a something Elvis Presley wore on tour or one he saw in a Fred Williamson movie? I just know my Mother hated it. Happy Father’s day to all the Uni Watch Dad’s

Jimmy Corcoran

• • • • •

Neal Manor

Hi Phil,

I’m a long-time lurker on Uni Watch and have never participated in the “Dads in Uniform” tribute for Father’s Day. I’ll be one of those first-timers this year. The attached picture is my grandfather, Leroy Joseph Manor, who passed away February 25, 2021, four days after his 100th birthday. He retired in 1978 as a 3-star Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force.

Here’s my short description, taken from his obituary (beautifully written by Grandpa’s son, my Dad):

Roy was a patriot by nature; his love of country was true but quiet, neither expedient nor flashy nor mercenary. He abided by a deep faith and religious commitment, profound but private. He was gentle and humble and kind; there was no pretense. Roy was a raconteur; his stories over coffee and dessert riveted and entertained. He never made himself the object of those stories; he never failed to recognize, and express appreciation for, the people who were a part of and contributed to his success.

Thank you for your interesting and engaging work in the Uni-verse. Now back to lurking…

Neal Manor

• • • • •

Robert Brashear

This is my late father, Robert S. Brashear, as an 18 year ol US Navy recruit during WWII in either San Diego or Oakland where he followed PCL baseball when on leave.

Submitted by son Robert L.Brashear

• • • • •

James Brooks

Hi Phil!

Here’s one from my dad when he played high school football, I think on senior night! I’ve always loved his high school’s colors, my grandma and grandpa wearing both colors of his #2 jersey, and my grandpa’s hat!

Thanks,

James

• • • • •

Matt Kamer

Meet the 1983 Blessed Sacrament Eagles; my dad as coach. In addition to awesome stirrups and elastic-band pants, you’ll notice the hat logo is different from the jerseys. My dad hand-drew the interlocking ‘BS’ for the hats, saying it “looked more like baseball.” In prior seasons, the hats actually were the navy that you see my dad wearing; probably a better overall look. But one year I suggested we go “full powder” as MSB was peak powder at the time. Maybe not as good as navy, so we later returned to navy hats and added a white squatchee.

-Matt Kamer

• • • • •

Jamie Galindo

My dad, Dino Sr., served in the Army during the Vietnam War. He’ll tell you some interesting stories. My brothers, also fathers, served as well. Dino Jr. was an active Marine from 1990-96. He’ll tell you he’s still serving because “Once a Marine always a Marine.” Gabriel was in the Army from 1997-2008. He’ll tell you he did two years at Leavenworth. On the outside.

Thanks for posting these photos.

Jaime Galindo

• • • • •

Christopher Hickey

Happy Father’s Day, Uni Watch!

I really appreciate Phil for starting this tradition.

I have this B/W scrapbook photo to share of my father, the late John S. Hickey MD, wearing the crimson and gray of St. Joe’s Prep (Philadelphia, PA) football.
While his image is not so sharp, there are some nice aspects to those uniforms that are clearly visible. Enjoy!

When his playing days were over, he went onto college, the US Navy, medical school, marriage and fatherhood…11 children.

Team Hickey celebrates him today and will remember him always.

• • • • •

“Acoustic Rob”

Phil,

Here’s a picture of my maternal grandparents taken in January 1943. Pa was a Seabee and is out on the town in his Navy uniform. They had been married for three weeks when the picture was taken.

Please credit this to my screen name of “Acoustic Rob.” Thanks!

• • • • •

Lukas Hoffland

My father, John Hoffland (on the right), in the spring of 1966 following boot camp after being drafted into the Army. He served domestically from 1966-68, and was honorably discharged after reaching the rank of Sergeant (E-5), before going on to spend most of the remaining several decades of his life wearing the uniform of a journalist and TV news director.

• • • • •

Dennis Jones

Phil

Attached is the photo of my Dad and Grandmother 1953.

2nd Lt. Edwin R. Jones
U.S.M.C. has his Wings
Pinned on by his mother
Mrs. Dennis Jones Littlefield, TX
03/31/1953

The picture ran in the Lamb County Leader Newspaper.

Dennis Jones
Yes I was named after my Grandfather.

• • • • •

J Hoover

This is my father, Gene (left) and Uncle Kenneth in my Grandparent’s backyard in Harrisburg, PA sometime in 1945 or 46. Dad was in the Navy at the time.

Dad loved baseball and football. Some of my fondest memories are with Dad at Cotton Bowl games in the early ’80’s and at Cowboys games at Texas Stadium. One of our first was Roger Staubach’s final win in 1979. Our last game together was the Thanksgiving Bounty Bowl against the Eagles in 1989. Dad’s favorite thing was sitting in the backyard listening to baseball on the radio. I’ll end with…I miss him.

• • • • •

Louis Sch

Hi Guys.

My Dad. Jerry. Rutherford NJ.

Army WW 2. Hero for sure.

Thank you for doing this.

Louis

• • • • •

Bryan Hoover

Good Morning Phil,

Attached you will find a photo of my father, Fred Hoover, retired Hall of Fame Athletic Trainer at Clemson University. In this photo, circa 1951, my father, located in the middle, was a Junior majoring in Physical Education at Florida State and had the opportunity to officiate high school JV and Varsity football games in the Tallahassee area. Many uniform items to point out, including my father wearing what appears to be high top cleats. Happy Father’s Day Pop and as usual, looking sharp!

Bryan Hoover

• • • • •

Graham Block

Phil,

Here is a picture of my dad, Brian Block Michigan class of ’73, from February 1973 in his track uniform. While the hair is gone and the muscles are smaller, that uniform top is still in great condition in a keepsake box. Happy fathers day pops!

-Graham, Michigan class of ’10

• • • • •

Edward Paul Gardner

Phil – here’s a photo of a baseball card of my Dad. Hope you can use it Sunday!

When my Dad turned 60, we sent him to Cardinals Fantasy Camp. Dad had a blast with Whitey, Red, and the Mad Hungarian. He had his only baseball card made. He gave me a ball and glove the day I was born. He always had time to play catch. We still go to spring training and baseball games across the country. I love him dearly and am grateful for the relationship we share – much of it through baseball. Happy Father’s Day to him and all the fathers!

• • • • •

Jon Smith

This is my dad, Johnnie Smith, playing industrial league, fast pitch softball for the MKT “Katy” Railroad team in Denison, Texas in the late ‘60s. That’s his ’66 GTO in the background.

Jon Smith

• • • • •

Zachary Hoover

Hey, Phil:

First time submitter! Attached is a picture of the 1935 University of Minnesota baseball team. My grandfather, Ted Brissman, is third from the right in the middle row – he played catcher. He passed away just after I was born in 1980, but I was given a treasure trove of his baseball and WWII scrapbooks just this past weekend. Some really great stuff!

Thanks for doing this,

Zach Hoover.
Winter Garden, FL

• • • • •

Tim Donahue

Sir:

Good evening. I am writing in regard to your dad’s in uniform post. Attached please find a 2 photos of my grandfather, PFC Daniel F. Donahue, Jr., US Army. Per your request here is the write up:

PFC Daniel F. Donahue, Jr., a native of Norristown, PA served in the China, Burma, India theater during WWII as an infantryman with the 475th Infantry Regiment, 5332d Brigade, Mars Task Force formed from the famed Merrill’s Marauders. Of the 14 million who served during WWII, only 250,000 served in the CBI. The unit lived off air drops and conducted long range penetration missions. His main job during attacks was to act as a runner, taking orders from the Commander and running them to positions when communications broke down. He came home to Pennsylvania and worked as a mailman in Conshohocken. He died in 2006.

Very Respectfully,

Timmy Donahue

• • • • •

Taylor Eenhuis

Here is a picture of my dad, Brian Eenhuis, when he was a senior in high school in 1983. He is #10. Happy Father’s Day, dad!

Love, Taylor

• • • • •

Allan Chandler

This is my dad, Emerson Chandler(back left) in his Yale Freshman Hockey uniform from 1939. After graduating from Yale, he served in the Navy during WW2. Along with hockey, he loved playing baseball and was also a great fisherman.

-Allan Chandler

• • • • •

Ted Machnik

Dear Phil.

My father Józef, left in the photo, served in the Polish Army in World War II which began on September 1, 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. He fought for seventeen days before being wounded and captured. He spent 5 and 1/2 years as a POW and an additional 4 years in Germany as he could not return due to political situation in Poland. Emigrated to the U.S. in 1950 and became a proud naturalized citizen. As many in the “Greatest Generation,” he rarely spoke of those days. I miss him every day.

The uniform he and his colleague are wearing indicates they were members of the Polish 60th Infantry Division.

Thanks.

Ted Machnik

• • • • •

Christopher Patterson

Hey Phil,

Here’s a submission for Father’s Day on Sunday. I have attached the photo and the text is below. Thanks for doing this. Take care.

This is my grandfather, Edward “Bubby” Lyons, as a corporal in the Army sometime in the mid-1940s. He passed away on May 14th, 2021. He lived in South Louisiana for his entire life, and was in the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame for being the only person ever to have served as mayor for two different towns in the state.

Chris Patterson

• • • • •

Todd Willis

This my Dad, Samuel T. Willis, Jr. He was the Coach of my Rec League team the Redlegs in this photo from 1978 in Warner Robins, GA. He coached many of my baseball and basketball teams. I am the kid with the glasses on the front row. My Dad passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) in 1989 when I was a Senior in high school.

Thanks for doing this.

Todd Willis

• • • • •

Ian Lee

The casino my father works at just did an interview with him for a YouTube video and I was able to get a screenshot that showed a better picture of him in his work uniform, so if you could use this picture instead I would appreciate it.

2020 was HARD on the fami-Lee even before the Pandemic became a “big deal,” and through it all, my father has remained stronger than I will ever be. Through losing his job over a mental crisis (long story) to supporting my mom through Pandemic Breast Cancer Treatments (which suck even more than normal ones as I have come to learn), my father has remained a calm, strong rock for us.

Dad, I’m glad that you are finally able to work at a place that appreciates you as much as mom and I do, and whenever you feel like you’re a bad dad (which I know happens often), just look back on all the support you’ve given us just this year alone.

– Ian

• • • • •

John Kimmerlein

Phil,

Thanks for doing this again–always one of my favorite UniWatch features throughout the year.

I have run out of photos of my father and grandfather in uniform (athletic and military) and your extension to uncles is timely. Just the other day I became a great-uncle for the first time and going forward I will be “great-uncle John” to this wonderful child–and likely others. Besides the obvious feelings of joy all-around, I also could not help but feeling a bit older–my own “great-uncle John” (whom I am named for) fought in France in WW1! Time truly marches on.

Here he is with a buddy before going overseas. Fortunately he returned in 1919 uninjured and lived a long, happy life

John K

• • • • •

Marlowe Bangeman

Hello! Here is my note:

This is my wonderful dad, Eric Bangeman. His favorite of all the sports is rugby. Though he never played, his love lives vicariously through myself and my younger brother. Here we are together after I spend 80 minutes rolling around in the mud and he proudly watched after refereeing a previous game. Love you dad ♥.

Thank you! Happy fathers day :)

Marlowe Bangeman
she/her/hers

• • • • •

Rhys Bangeman

Here’s a photo of my dad suiting up for an old boys rugby game so he can remember why people with really crappy knees should stick to reminiscing about playing sports.

Retired from refereeing and playing (until I’m old enough for an old boys game) my dad sustains his passion and aptitude for rugby by coaching/assigning referees and teaching his son the best ways to break the laws of rugby.

Happy Fathers Day

• • • • •

Ed Kozak

My father, Edward Kozak, was an artilleryman in World War II, serving in the European Theatre with the 44th Division. He always said he was fortunate, because the Allies were always shooting at the Germans, but the enemy, being in retreat, rarely shot back at him. Luckily the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan; otherwise he would have been shipped out to the Pacific to fight the Japanese like so many others. Fortunately he was soon mustered out and started a family with his bride, my mom, instead. Here’s one of his Army photos.

Thank you,
Ed Kozak, Bolingbrook, IL

• • • • •

Nick Kissoff

Phil,

Here’s a pic of my dad, Victor Kissoff, circa 1953 in his high school yearbook football action photo. He was a defensive back for the Waite Indians in Toledo, Ohio. Never got to see a color photo of these that were purple & gold, so I can only imagine how it looked. After his two hip operations he never looked quite that fast!

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.

Nick Kissoff

• • • • •

Howard Bosworth

Good Morning Phil

Thanks for running feature yet again this coming Fathers Day

John Snyder was my step dad. He was a good man and welcomed me when he and my mother were married and blended families.

We watched a lot of sports on TV, especially the Knicks and he told me about his beloved RPI hockey team where he graduated school.

I miss him very much.

Happy Fathers to all

Howard Bosworth

• • • • •

Jason Gomez

Attached are my Dad (bottom) Vietnam, upper right my Grandpa Gomez (Dad’s Dad) upper left my Grandpa Poock (Moms Dad).

My Dad was first generation to be born in the states, enlisted right after he graduated from high school in Kansas City, Missouri, spent 1967 in Vietnam. He ended up contracting Malaria and the Army did a bad job of informing his family because he ended up being listed as MIA, when he finally made it home my grandmother did not believe it was him. He ended up joining the National Guard, became a Principal, had 2 other boys besides myself and was married for 47 years until his death this past January from covid.

My Grandpa Gomez, came to the US for a better life in the 40s, and back then, you could join the Army and you could become a citizen. Grandpa served in the Pacific Theatre. He settled in Kansas City, Missouri. He was a mechanic for Consolidated Freightways from the time he returned until his death from cancer in 1985, a few months before his Royals won their 1st World Series.

My Grandpa Poock grew up on a farm in Iowa, farming was all he knew. He joined the Army after Pearl Harbor and fought against the Germans in Europe, which he said at first was hard because he was full German and only 2 generations removed from his grandfather immigrating to the USA from Germany. Grandpa was never one to brag about his time in the Army, so I went most of my life not knowing. After I returned from Iraq, he opened up more and shared his uniform with me (which I received after his death). He retired from farming in 1986 after my grandmother had a massive stroke, he learned how to build things out of wood, and was amazing at it. He lived on his own after she died in 2007, and kept driving up to age 94. He passed in 2018, just 2 years shy of his 100th birthday.

So, I am a 3rd Generation Army Vet, and I am very proud of it. I owe them a lot.

Thank you for doing this,

Jason Gomez

• • • • •

John Marretta

My Dad, John R. Marretta, at boot camp. Fort Dix, New Jersey 1957.

• • • • •

Fox Marretta

me and my dad, John F. Marretta refereeing some wrestling.

I am Fox. Now I’m five.

Mom helped me send this

• • • • •

Kary Klismet

This is a photo of my grandfather, Peter M. Klismet, Sr., on his wedding day. Grandpa served as a medic for the U.S. Army in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He died when I was twelve, but we bonded over sports before then. He retrieved the only foul ball for me that I’ve ever brought home from a professional baseball game – a Denver Bears minor league game at old Mile High Stadium when I was four. He hopped some construction barriers and ducked security to snag it. It’s still a prized possession of mine today.

• • • • •

That’s all for 2021! Thanks to all who submitted and as always, this was another wonderful way to honor our dads on Father’s Day. Stay safe everyone, and I’ll catch you next weekend.

Peace,

PH

 
  
 
Comments (13)

    Thanks so much….on the Robert Brashear photo it should say when “on” leave, not “one” leave….thanks

    This post is always one of the highlights of the uni year. Thanks for this & for all you do, Mr. Hecken!

    What a disappointment. Mariners decide Father’s Day Sunday is the day not to wear their gorgeous Sunday creams…Did MLB properties force them into the whites with the prostate cancer ribbon on the uni top and navy hats?

    Thanks for doing this Phil, I definitely will be adding more pictures of my Grandpa Poock, he left me a significant amount of pictures.

    Terrific photos and tributes! This is my favorite day at UW.
    Thank you all for sharing!

    Terrific photos and memories. Thank you to all for sharing and hope everyone had a nice Father’s Day.

    Thank you Phil for honoring my father and all of those fathers, grandfathers, etc. who served their country and communities.

    Thanks, Phil, and thanks to everyone else for sharing!

    Jimmy C…I’d wear your dad’s coat.

    James Brooks…love that Saugus HS jersey. Great colors.

    He had a hat he wore with it that Robert Redford wore in the Great Gatsby. I never thought it was a good idea to mix movie outfits but if he wouldn’t listen to the NFL coaches he wouldn’t listen to me?

    YES! those Saugus uniforms are great! The look like the Joe Theismann era Toronto uniforms.

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