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Personal info

Full name
HROVATIC, Ernest
Date of birth
3 April 1922
Age
22
Place of birth
Raymbaultown, Houghton County, Michigan
Hometown
Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio

Military service

Service number
35923242
Rank
Private First Class
Function
unknown
Unit
36th Armored Infantry Regiment,
3rd Armored Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
14 January 1945
Place of death
Near Ottre, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot Row Grave
C 13 35

Immediate family

Members
Joseph L. Hrovatic (father)
Frances (Kostelec) Hrovatic (mother)
Frances Hrovatic (sister)
Joseph Hrovatic (brother)
John Hrovatic (brother)
Mary Hrovatic (sister)
Rudolph Hrovatic (brother)
Ralph Hrovatic (brother)
Margaret Hrovatic (sister)
Anna A. Hrovatic (sister)
Carl Hrovatic (brother)
James Hrovatic (brother)
Rosa Lie Hrovatic (sister)

More information

Pfc Ernest Hrovatic enlisted in Cleveland, Ohio on 4 December 1943.

He was one of the most popular players in a Falcon uniform and died in an infantryman's uniform in a bigger league. Hrovatic was called a "ball hawk". He could go get 'em' no matter where the ball was hit in right field. He was labeled by Jack Sanford, then manager of the Falcons, as one of the surest bets of major league material.

The 3rd Armored Division continued figthing during the Battle of Bulge, far north of the deepest German penetration. Countering German attacks, it served an important highway leading to Saint-Vith. It was around this time that Hrovatic was killed in action, near Ottre, Belgium, on January 14, 1945.

Ernest Hrovatic was first buried at Temporary Military Cemetery Henri-Chapelle Block BBB, Row 1, Grave 16.

Source of information: Erwin Derhaag, Gary Bedingfield (Baseball in Wartime), Allison Rene Hrovatic Vanderberg (great niece), www.ancestry.com - 1930 Census / U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.newspapers.com - The Bradford Evening Star

Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet, Gary Bedingfield (Baseball in Wartime)