During college at the University of Michigan, Gedeon became an All-American in track and field, and earned varsity letters in both football and baseball. He tied a world record in the high hurdles in 1938. After graduating, Gedeon had a stint in Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the Washington Senators. Gedeon spent most of the 1939 and 1940 baseball seasons in the minor leagues, but he was called up to the Senators in September 1939.\n', '

Gedeon\'s baseball career was cut short when he was drafted by the United States Army in early 1941. He trained as a bomber pilot, and was decorated for bravery after his plane crashed on a training flight in 1942. He later served in combat, and was shot down and killed while piloting a B-26 bomber on a mission over France in April 1944.\n', '

Born in Cleveland, Gedeon was a star athlete at Cleveland\'s West High School, where he was a member of the class of 1935. He was a 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) athlete who excelled in American football, baseball, and track and field. While ice skating in Brookside Park in Cleveland as a youth, the ice gave way and Gedeon\'s cousin plunged through up to his neck. The cousin later recalled: "Elmer slid across the ice on his belly and pulled me out." Gedeon\'s uncle, Joe Gedeon, was a Major League Baseball player who was implicated in the Chicago Black Sox scandal.\n', '

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