Olan Dabbs
| Date and Place of Birth: | 1918 Pauls Valley, OK |
| Date and Place of Death: | April 6, 1945 Heilbronn, Germany |
| Baseball Experience: | Minor League |
| Position: | Outfield/Third Base |
| Rank: | Private First Class |
| Military Unit: | Company E, 397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | European Theater of Operations |
Olan Dabbs, the son of W.J. "Jack" and Bertha "Bertie" Dabbs, was born on his father's farm between Pauls Valley and Wynnewood, Oklahoma in 1918. He graduated from high school in Pauls Valley in 1936 (a year after his mother passed away) and signed with the Tyler Trojans of the Class C East Texas League in 1939. Also playing for the Trojans that year was catcher Walter Lake, who was killed in action in France in July 1944.
Although Dabbs probably never made an appearance
for the Trojans in 1939, he was back in minor league baseball in 1940,
playing 53 games in leftfield with the Carthage Pirates, a
Pittsburgh affiliate in the Class D Arkansas-Missouri League. The
four-team circuit disbanded at the Fourth of July
doubleheaders of that year and Dabbs finished the
season playing third base and batting .212 in 41 games for the Topeka Owls of the Class C
Western Association.
That was to be Dabbs’ only summer of professional baseball. In April
1942, he left his job as a sales clerk and entered military service with
the army. Following basic training, Dabbs was assigned to Company E of
the 397th Infantry Regiment, 100th Infantry Division. By October 1944,
the division was in France.
On April 4, 1945 Company E, of the 397th was on the road to
Neckargartach, near Heilbronn, Germany, with the mission to clear the
area of enemy resistance. The 398th Infantry Regiment had crossed the
Neckar River near Neckartgartach and established a beachhead but had
been counterattacked by heavily armoured German forces. Company E were
called upon to cross the river and attack the glass factory area where
much of the enemy fire was coming from.
Crossing the river in rubber boats, Private First Class Dabbs and the
rest of Company E reached the administration building of the glass
factory, where they prepared to holdout against a German counterattack.
The Germans fired automatic weapons and panzerfausts at the building,
and used grenades, both fragmentation and incendiary, setting the
building on fire. It was soon an inferno and the men of Company E
abandoned the building, leaving behind the bodies of six of their dead
comrades. These six men were PFC Olan Dabbs, 2/Lt. Peter P. Petracco,
Sgt. Earl H. Leland, PFC Harold E. Miller, PFC Jason S. Miller, Jr., and
PFC William A. Bresnahan. They were all cremated in the fire. Little was
found of them other than their dog tags and their remains were buried in
a common grave in France.
The fighting at Neckartgartach and Heilbronn was to be the last major
battle of the war for Company E. One month later, Germany surrendered.
PFC Olan Dabbs was awarded the Silver Star “for conspicuous gallantry
and intrepidity in action against the enemy...his gallant actions and
selfless devotion to duty without regard for his own safety, were in
keeping with the highest traditions of military service.”
In March 1950, Olan Dabbs’ remains, together with those of his comrades
who had died in that glass factory administration building in Germany,
were returned to the United States and buried in a common grave at
Arlington National Cemetery.
|
Year |
Team |
League |
Class |
G |
AB |
R |
H |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
AVG |
| 1939 | Tyler | East Texas | C | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1940 | Carthage | Arkansas-Missouri | D | 53 | 219 | 33 | 52 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 36 | .237 |
| 1940 | Topeka | Western Assoc. | C | 41 | 137 | - | 29 | 6 | 2 | 0 | - | .212 |
Carthage Pirates 1940
(Olan Dabbs is front row, second right)
Thanks to John G. Hall for supplying this photo
Sources:
Box Cars and Burps: History of Company E by Craig Davison and Bill Law
Special thanks John G. Hall, author and editor of the KOM League
newsletter, who recently informed me about Olan Dabbs being a WWII
casualty.
Date Added February 1, 2014 Updated May 5, 2014
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