Southworth was a professional baseball player and the son of St. Louis Cardinals manager Billy Southworth. He started his career in organized baseball with Martinsville in the Bi-State League in 1936 and was the property of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League when he enlisted in the Army. He is often cited as the first pro baseball player to enlist for World War II. He was a B-17 pilot who flew 25 missions over Germany and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He returned to the United States and was serving as deputy commanding officer of a newly organized task force of the Second Air Force when a B-29 he was flying crashed into Flushing Bay in New York. Southworth was on a special experimental flight from new York to Florida and was attempting an emergency landing at LaGuardia Field but overshot the field. Southworth was the only one of the six crew members aboard the B-29 to be killed.
Southworth was a professional baseball player and the son of St. Louis Cardinals manager Billy Southworth. He started his career in organized baseball with Martinsville in the Bi-State League in 1936 and was the property of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League when he enlisted in the Army. He is often cited as the first pro baseball player to enlist for World War II. He was a B-17 pilot who flew 25 missions over Germany and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He returned to the United States and was serving as deputy commanding officer of a newly organized task force of the Second Air Force when a B-29 he was flying crashed into Flushing Bay in New York. Southworth was on a special experimental flight from new York to Florida and was attempting an emergency landing at LaGuardia Field but overshot the field. Southworth was the only one of the six crew members aboard the B-29 to be killed.
Bio by: Stew Thornley
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