Roberto Clemente, born August 18, 1934 in Puerto Rico, played eighteen seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955-1972.
He joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve in September 1958 and served a six-month active duty in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Washington DC. He gained an early release from Sate Senator John Walker for the 1959 season. He continued to serve during off-seasons through 1964, as a private first class.
During his career, he made All-Star 15 times, helped the Pirates to two World Series championships, was National League MVP in 1966, World Series MVP in 1971, won 12 Gold Glove Awards, and was the NL batting champion 4 times.
He was involved with charity and humanitarian work throughout his career in Latin America and the Caribbean during the off-seasons. On December 31, 1972, the plane he was riding in crashed off the coast of Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, while carrying relief supplies and aid packages to the victims of an earthquake in Nicaragua. An award in his honor the Roberto Clemente Award, is given to the player who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team".
He was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, becoming the first Latin-American to be inducted. He was inducted into the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Puerto Rican Veterans Hall of Fame in 2018. He has also been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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