GIs of the Gridiron.

Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle Art Donovan says Guar is nothing like the battles of the National Football League. The World War II veteran of Saipan, Guam, Tinian, the Philippines, and Okinawa has seen both first-hand as a private first class in the Marine Corps and one of the most honored professional football players.

Eddie LeBaron, former quarterback for the Washington Redskins, was known as the "Little General" on the football field, but he was Marine Corps Capt. LeBaron at "Heartbreak Ridge" during the Korean War. He's been honored with the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

Both Outstanding professional football players tell their wartime stories in the upcoming DAV funded documentary GIs of the Gridiron, which is now being produced by Emmy Award-winning New Voyage Communications in Washington, D.C. The documentary will be distributed to NFL teams, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the NFL Alumni Association.

"The documentary will show the rich history of service to our nation by those who played professional football," said National Adjutant Arthur H. Wilson. "Their records of service are an incredible statement to the honor they brought, not only to the game of football, but to our nation's veterans."

GIs of the Gridiron will highlight the service of professional football players, officials, and executives to our nation in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

The documentary will also pay tribute to Arizona Cardinals tight end flat Tillman, who left the NFL in May 2002 to join the Army and was killed in Afghanistan.

During World War II, 995 professional football players and others involved in the game served our nation, and 19 players died in action, including Jack Lummus, an end for the New York Giants, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his courage during the battle on Iwo Jima.

Two others, Detroit Lions end Maurice L. Britt, who lost his arm near Mignano, Italy, and Joseph J. Foss, who shot down 23 planes in the desperate air defense of Guadalcanal and later became a Commissioner of the American Football League, also received the Medal of honor for their World War II service.

Also among those who served during World War II were six NFL owners--George Halas, Chicago Beaks, Dan Topping, Brooklyn Dodgers, Dan Reeves and Fred Levy, Jr., Cleveland Rams; Wellington Mara, New York Giants; and Alexis Thompson, Philadelphia Eagles.

Donovan, who was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968, said he was honored to add his story to the DAV documentary. He began his wartime service as an anti-aircraft gunner aboard the aircraft carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) just in time for the invasion of Saipan and the Marianas Turkey Shoot, a battle in which 300 Japanese aircraft were shot down.

Donovan helped load a 40-mm gun to fight off the enemy planes attacking U.S. ships. Donovan and his ship later fought their way across the Pacific to Okinawa facing deadly Japanese suicide planes.

"The planes were all over the place," said Donovan. "You almost couldn't knock the kamikazes down. You would hit them, and they'd catch fire, but they kept coming right at you. Some blew up so close, their parts landed on the flight deck, I got hit in the chest by a flying piece of steel from something, but I just pulled it out and kept loading the gun."

LeBaron, who stood 5-foot-7, was called the "Littlest General" because of his toughness and leadership. Donovan said the hardest hit of his professional football career landed on LeBaron during an All-Star game. "I thought he would lie on the ground and roll around," said Donovan, "but he got up before I did. He was tough."

LeBaron spent nine months in Korea and was wounded twice. At "Heartbreak Ridge," he left the safety of cover to move under heavy fire to a forward observation post to direct mortar fire. He later took charge of a rifle platoon that lost its commander, and resumed the attack against enemy forces.

During the fighting in Korea, LeBaron was leading his men up a jagged peak attacking all enemy position when he was struck by shrapnel. "The Force of the impact knocked me off a cliff," he said. "I wasn't hurt by the shrapnel, but the fall nearly killed me,"

Adding their World War II stories to the documentary will be Al DeMao, a center for the Washington Redskins. who commanded a landing craft on Omaha Beach on D-Day, and Len Teeuws, a tackle with the Chicago Cardinals and now a DAV Transportation Network driver, who served aboard the Coast Guard Cutter USS Bibb in the North Atlantic and Europe.

Also scheduled to be interviewed for the documentary is Ralph Heywood, the only NFL player to serve in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. During World War II, Heywood served with the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific. After his discharge from active duty following the war, he began a four-year pro football career but returned to active duty in 1952 to serve in Korea. He later commanded the 26th Marines in Vietnam.

Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys and running back Rocky Bleier of the Pittsburgh Steelers have been asked to tell their stories of Vietnam.

Staubach, a Naval Academy graduate, served four years in the Navy, including a tour in Vietnam, before he joined the NFL. In 1969, Bleier was serving in Vietnam when hewas wounded trying to secure a landing zone to evacuate the wounded. Rifle fire and grenade blasts seriously damaged both his legs. Told he would never play football again, he underwent three operations and two years of exhaustive rehabilitation to fight his way back on the Steelers roster in 1972.

The documentary also will honor Vietnam veterans Bob Kalsu, a guard for the Buffalo Bills, who was killed in combat on an isolated jungle mountaintop, and Don Steinbrunner, an offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns, who died when his plane was shot down in Vietnam.

Running back Mike Anderson of the Denver Broncos, who served in Somalia, and former Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Chad Hennings, an A-10 pilot during the Gulf War, have been asked to be a part of the documentary, as well.

"This will be an outstanding video production that will tell America not only the story of professional football during wartime, but the story of all veterans," Wilson said. "Every man and woman who has word the uniform of our nation will feel a kinship with these outstanding professional football players."