Sports Heroes Who Served is a series that highlights the accomplishments of athletes who served in the U.S. military.
During World War II, Bill Greason served with an all-African American unit that landed on Iwo Jima. He later played Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals as a pitcher and then became a Baptist minister.
Greason will celebrate his 97th birthday on Sept. 3.
In 1943, Greason, a native of Atlanta, enlisted in the Marine Corps and did his basic training at Montford Point, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The military was segregated at the time, so Montford Point was where all of the African American Marines were trained.
On Feb. 19, 1945, the first Marines landed on the hotly contested island of Iwo Jima. Greason was serving with the 66th Supply Platoon, 34th Marine Depot Company, V Amphibious Corps, which landed three days later.
His duties included unloading supplies and munitions from ships to the shore.
The next day, Feb. 23, Greason witnessed the raising of the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi, a volcanic hill that overlooks the entire island.
Later that day, a second and much larger U.S. flag was raised to replace the first one. The second flag raising, also witnessed by Greason, became the more famous of the two because of the photograph taken by combat correspondent Joe Rosenthal and the video that was taken by Marine Sgt. Bill Genaust. Genaust was killed a few days later.
In the book "24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid," authors Willie Mays and John Shea interviewed Greason about the battle. In the book, Greason vividly recalled that day: "That was an awful place. It taught me to really pray. There were over 20,000 casualties. Two of my best buddies right near me got [killed]. I asked God if he got me off that island, whatever he wanted me to do, I'd do it. I didn't know he'd have me preaching, but I have no regrets. I've been blessed."
In September 1945, after the war ended, Greason served with the American occupational force in Sasebo and Nagasaki, Japan, before being honorably discharged.
In 1947 and 1948, he pitched for the Negro League's Nashville Black Vols, Asheville Blues and Birmingham Black Barons.
In the summer of 1951 during the Korean War, Greason once again enlisted in the Marine Corps.
This time, the units were not segregated because President Harry S. Truman had issued Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, which abolished discrimination "on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin" in the armed forces.
Instead of being sent in harm's way, this time Greason was stationed at Camp Lejeune, where he played for the Marines' baseball team.
In 1954, he was starting pitcher for the Cardinals for one season. He spent the remainder of his professional baseball career in the upper levels of the minor leagues in the Cardinal farm system, retiring after the 1959 season.
A few years later he became the pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, fulfilling the promise he made to God on Iwo Jima.
In 2011, Greason was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the annual Alabama Black Achievement Awards Gala.
In 2012, Greason and other Montford Point Marines were awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.