About Wayne Terwilliger
Willard Wayne Terwilliger (June 27, 1925 – February 3, 2021), nicknamed "Twig", was an American professional baseball second baseman. He played nine seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1949 and 1960 for the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Washington Senators, New York Giants, and Kansas City Athletics. == Early life == Terwilliger grew up in Michigan. He joined the Marines in 1943 following his 18th birthday and served as a radioman on an amphibious tank in the Pacific Theater of World War II. While overseas, Terwilliger served in Tinian and Iwo Jima, and had his tank destroyed at Saipan. "We were hit and the tank bogged down," he told The Sporting News on April 26, 1950. "We had to abandon the tank. Everybody scattered into the nearest fox holes. But at just about that time a [Japanese] tank rolled up and began blasting away. I knew I had to get out of there, so I ran for the beach, zigzagging in and out with the tank chasing me. I'm sure I'd be lying out there somewhere now if it hadn't been for one of our own tanks, which luckily showed up while I was doing all that broken field running." Terwilliger was discharged in late 1945 and attended Western Michigan College, where he quickly became a star shortstop.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.