Like many ballplayers of the time DiMaggio lost a few years of his career due to military service but that didn"t prevent Joltin" Joe from getting his at bats. On February 17 1943 with the nation in the midst of heavy fighting in the Pacific and preparing to enter the European theater the Yankee Clipper enlisted in the United States Army. Assigned to Special Services with the Army Air Force DiMaggio was dispatched to the Santa Ana Army Air Base where he served as a physical education instructor and obviously joined their baseball team. He managed a 27-game hitting streak and also played for an armed forces All-Star team in July of 1943.Camp Cooke the location of this photo was a US military training center that was built in 1941 and served as a location to train armored and infantry divisions throughout the war (and also became the barracks for German and Italian POWs). Today Camp Cooke is Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc California.This postcard is particularly rare one of just two graded examples available. Aside from being one of a modest number of photos documenting DiMaggio"s baseball playing during his military service it is also one of the only cards of DiMaggio issued during the war (the other being the hideous 1943 M.P. & Co. card). Picturing the Clipper at the finish of his legendary swing and in front of a crowd of awestruck spectators this is an excellent example of a truly difficult postcard.Examining the scan of the card front will reveal a strong surface and EX-MT corners. The low grade is attributable partially to the faint marking of a tape stain on the front and two others on the back (along with some modest discoloration) but mostly because of writing on the reverse that reads as follows:"Jolting Joe" isn"t here now but we have quite a lot of other former big leaguers here."An exceedingly rare postcard of one of the most popular players to ev