Hank Thompson

Thompson was a machine gunner with the 1695th Combat Engineers at the historic Battle of the Bulge. He returned to the U.S. after the war and played in the negro leagues, but after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, he was quickly signed by the Brown. Thompson played his first game with the Browns on July 17, 1947, integrating the Browns’ lineup two days before Willard Brown made his debut as the second black player on the Browns. The following day, July 20, Thompson played second base and Brown played center field for the Browns in a game against the Boston Red Sox. That game marked the first time that two black players appeared in the same major league lineup.