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Chet Kehn
Date and
Place of Birth:
October 30, 1921 San Diego, California
Died: April 5, 1984 San Diego, California
Baseball
Experience:
Major League
Position:
Pitcher
Rank:
Private First-Class
Military Unit: US
Army Air Force
Area
Served:
Pacific Theater of Operations
Chester L “Chet” Kehn was born on October 30,
1921 in San Diego, California. He signed with the Brooklyn
Dodgers in 1939 and played for
Dayton
of the Mid-Atlantic League that year, posting a 3-4 record and 5.82
ERA.
He was again with
Dayton
in 1940 and also pitched with
Elmira
of the Eastern League. In 1941, Kehn joined Montreal of the International League and
together with Ed Head was the ace of the pitching staff with a 16-11
record and 3.26 ERA. He made his major league debut with the Dodgers
on April 30, 1942 and made three appearances before returning to
Montreal
where he was 8-8.
Kehn entered military service
in March 1943. He served with the Army Air Force and was in the
Pacific in 1945. In July 1945, Private
First-Class Kehn was with the 73rd Bomb Wing Bombers on the 20th Air
Force tour of Pacific Islands.
The Bombers were based at Isley Field, Saipan
and played round-robin competitions against Birdie Tebbett's 58th
Bomb Wing and Lew Riggs 313th Bomb Wing. The Bombers, with a line-up
that featured Sid Hudson, Tex Hughson, Stan Rojek and Mike
McCormick, won nine of 11 games on the
Marianas Island leg of the tour.
|
Bananas w ere plentiful on Saipan for the
73rd Bombers.
(Back row, left to right): Tex Hughson,
Dario Lodigiani, Ferris Fain,
Mike McCormick, unknown.
(Front row, left to
right): Charlie Silvera, unknown, Chet Kehn.
|
Kehn
returned to the United States
in November 1945. He was back with the Dodgers’ organization in 1946
and had a 12-7 record with
Montreal
that year. In 1947, he was 9-9 with Montreal
and spent the next two seasons with
Santa Barbara of the California League. Kehn
never made it back to the majors but continued to pitch in the minor
leagues until 1950.
Chet Kehn passed away in
San Diego, California on April 5, 1984. He was 62.
Created May 14, 2008.
Copyright © 2008 Gary Bedingfield (Baseball
in Wartime). All Rights Reserved.