05 · Two uniforms · the dossiers
Seven men who wore the athletic uniform and the uniform of the United States with distinction. Hover or tap a portrait to see the other uniform; open a dossier for the service record, the personal timeline and the sources.
TWO UNIFORMS
Stealing home · Brooklyn Dodgers2nd Lt. Robinson · U.S. Army, 1943
2nd Lt.U.S. Army · 761st Tank Battalion
Jackie Robinson
The first Black player in modern Major League Baseball was, three years earlier, a second lieutenant who would not move to the back of an Army bus.
TWO UNIFORMS
The Brown Bomber · in the ringSgt. Louis · U.S. Army
Sgt.U.S. Army · Special Services
Joe Louis
The heavyweight champion of the world enlisted as a private in January 1942 and spent the war boxing for the troops.
TWO UNIFORMS
Pound for pound · in the ringU.S. Army, 1943–44 · HOMAGE card
Sgt.U.S. Army · Joe Louis boxing troupe
Sugar Ray Robinson
Pound for pound the greatest — and, for fifteen months of the war, a soldier boxing exhibitions beside Joe Louis.
TWO UNIFORMS
The Say Hey Kid · sliding inPvt. Mays · U.S. Army, 1952
Pvt.U.S. Army · Fort Eustis, Virginia
Willie Mays
The reigning Rookie of the Year was drafted in 1952 and gave the Army most of two seasons — then came back and won the World Series.
TWO UNIFORMS
Serving · the open eraLt. Ashe · U.S. Army
1st Lt.U.S. Army · U.S. Military Academy, West Point
Arthur Ashe
A lieutenant at West Point won the very first US Open — while on active duty.
TWO UNIFORMS
The Admiral · San Antonio SpursLt. (j.g.) Robinson · U.S. Navy
Lt. (j.g.)U.S. Navy · Civil Engineer Corps
David Robinson
The Naval Academy's best player owed the Navy two years before the NBA — and kept the promise.
TWO UNIFORMS
In the USA singlet, bib 295 · Mexico City, 1968Capt. Pender on a field telephone · Vietnam
Capt.U.S. Army · 82nd Airborne · 9th Infantry Division
Mel Pender
Twice the Army pulled him out of a war to run for the United States, and twice it sent him back.
Voices · not in uniform on this page
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Historian · author of Brothers in Arms, the story of the 761st Tank Battalion
Speaker in Kevin Clark's Victory by Valor films
Voices · not in uniform on this page
Muhammad Ali
The counterpoint · on 28 April 1967, at the Houston induction center, he refused to step forward for the U.S. Army — the answer Lt. Ashe and Capt. Pender did not give
Stripped of the world heavyweight title the same day · convicted 20 June 1967 · conviction overturned by a unanimous Supreme Court, 28 June 1971 · Photo: Ira Rosenberg, World Journal Tribune, 1967 — Library of Congress, no known copyright restrictions
This Day in History · WHSV, 28 April 2026 ↗
Voices · not in uniform on this page
Brig. Gen. Arnold Gordon-Bray (Ret.)
Speaker's bureau · led the 82nd Airborne's "Falcon Brigade" in Iraq, 2003 · deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Cadet Command
From the Dakar Foundation proposal, November 2024 · Photo: U.S. Army ceremony, supplied by Kevin Clark
