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Posted on 05/07/2004 12:02:25 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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 Pat Tillman When Pat Tillman, the hard-charging safety for the Arizona Cardinals, relinquished a multi-million dollar contract to join the Army with the professed goal of making it as a Ranger, he immediately became an anomaly: In this era of pampered, million-dollar ballplayers, he is a throwback to an earlier age, when the best athletes in America gave some of the best years of their professional careers to serve in the Armed Forces during a time of war. How times have changed. Baseball, our “National Pastime,” was once the province of working-class young men possessed of a special talent with bat, ball, and glove. Many hailed from blue-collar backgrounds, and felt unbelievably lucky to have made it to the Big Leagues to earn their keep, if only for a little while. As Chester (“Red”) Hoff said when I interviewed him for a book I was doing on America’s centenarians, “Playing ball was better than having to work to earn a living.” Although numbers are not easy to come by, the National Baseball Hall of Fame has derived some telling statistics. In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, more than 500 major leaguers served during the war, including 29 who would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame. Five Hall of Famers served during the war in Korea.  Bob Feller Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller became the first major leaguer to volunteer for active duty, enlisting in the Navy two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor engulfed America in the Second World War. He became an anti-aircraft gunner on the battleship Alabama, which fought at Tarawa, Iwo Jima, and in the Marshall Islands. For his service, he earned five campaign ribbons and eight battle stars. Despite losing four years to the war, Bullet Bob won 266 games and struck out 2,581 batters during an exemplary 18-year career highlighted by a trio of no-hitters and a dozen one-hitters.  Warren Spahn Warren Spahn, with 363 victories the winningest southpaw in baseball history, spent three years as a combat engineer. He has the distinction of being the only professional athlete to have earned a battlefield commission as a second lieutenant. A foot wound obviously didn’t hurt his pitching skills much.  Yogi Berra The inimitable Yogi Berra served in the Navy, and was stationed aboard a rocket launcher off the coast of Normandy Beach just after D-Day. Rubber-armed Hoyt Wilhelm, who pitched in more than a thousand games and became the first closer to enter the Hall, earned a Purple Heart in the Battle of the Bulge. Umpire Nestor Chylak, an Army Ranger, lost his sight for ten days during that battle; his actions earned him a Purple Heart and the Silver Star.  Hoyt Wilhelm  Umpire Nestor Chyllak The ‘Human Howitzer’ Professional football players answered the call as well. Of the 638 NFL players who served in World War II, 355 were commissioned as officers, 66 were decorated, and 21 lost their lives. Among them was an offensive tackle for the New York Giants named Al Blozis. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Blozis played football and was a weight thrower on the track team at Georgetown University. He won the NCAA, IC4A, and AAU shotput championships indoors and outdoors three years in a row, from 1940-42, and was the IC4A discus champion all three years as well.  Al Blozis Along with golfer Ben Hogan and boxer Joe Louis, Blozis was selected by United Press International as one of three outstanding athletes of 1941.  Ben Hogan  Joe Louis Graduating in 1942, he was drafted by the Giants in the third round and quickly became an anchor at tackle. Having been granted a dispensation to serve in the military because of his size, Blozis, the son of Lithuanian immigrants, entered the Army as a lieutenant. On his first patrol, less than two months after playing his last game on the gridiron, he was killed in the Vosges Mountains during an encounter related to the Battle of the Bulge. Lieutenant Alfred Blozis was 26 years old. While Al Blozis may not be a “household name” for most fans of the game, his death robbed football of a standout player, and, many believe, track and field of a virtually certain Olympic gold medalist. During the long years of America’s involvement in Vietnam, a paucity of our finest athletes managed to serve on active duty. Scores fulfilled their military obligation by joining the Reserves or the National Guard. A Pentagon study in the spring of 1967 found 360 pro players in the Reserves and the Guard. Among them were Boston Red Sox pitcher Jim Lonborg, New York Mets pitchers Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan and second baseman Ken Boswell, and New York Knicks stars Cazzie Russell and Bill Bradley.  Jim Lonborg  Tom Seaver  Nolan Ryan  Ken Boswell Of those who served in Vietnam, Rocky Bleier, the storied running back who helped the Pittsburgh Steelers win four Super Bowls, is perhaps the most prominent. Picked by the Steelers late in the 1968 draft after a sterling collegiate career at Notre Dame, he was drafted again, this time for service in the Army as an infantryman.  Rock Bleier He suffered crippling wounds in both legs when hit by enemy rifle fire and shrapnel. He could barely walk let alone run. Yet with grit and determination, he beat the odds after two agonizing years recovering from his wounds. Rocky Bleier went on to a stellar 12-year career in the NFL. He became the “go-to” guy for the Steelers, a thousand-yard rusher, and a key contributor to four Super Bowl championships. Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, whose Dallas Cowboys were prime competition for Bleier’s Steelers, served in the Vietnam theater of operations. Willie Miller, a wide receiver who played in the Super Bowl with the then Los Angeles Rams, served. So did Charlie Johnson, a defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles.  Roger Staubach Sad Distinction One NFL player was killed in action in Southeast Asia. Bob Kalsu had been an All-America tackle at the University of Oklahoma and an eighth-round draft pick by Buffalo in 1968. He started eight games at guard in 1968 and was the Bills' top rookie. His potential had few limits. Following the season he entered the Army to satisfy his ROTC obligation.  Bob Kalsu Kalsu arrived in Vietnam in November 1969. He was killed in action on 21 July 1970 at Fire Base Ripcord near the A Shau Valley. First Lieutenant Bob Kalsu had one child, a daughter. At home in Oklahoma City, his wife gave birth to his son, James Robert Kalsu Jr., on 23 July 1968. Mrs. Kalsu was informed of her husband's death hours later.  Al Bumbry An equally modest contingent from America’s Pastime served in Vietnam. Baltimore Orioles outfielder Al Bumbry led an infantry platoon; he was able to boast that all of his men made it home. Ed Figueroa, a steady pitcher for the California Angels and later for the New York Yankees, also served in-country. Today, with the threat of the military draft no longer a motivating factor, few with the potential to make it in the pros give a second thought to military service. Pat Tillman stands out among this elite fraternity as an athlete whose values, like so many of the stars who came before him, extend beyond the game they play. The real heroes, he knows, are not the guys who hit .350, or belt 60 home runs, or throw for 3,000 yards, or rush for 1,500 yards, or score 30 points a game, or race cars very fast. The real heroes are the Pat Tillmans. Snippy's note: The real heroes are all our troops, past and present. Thanks for the idea for this thread Sam.      |
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AL BLOZIS: JERSEY CITY GIANTBy Victor Mastro, Frank Alkyer, and others You can't help but notice in Jersey City. There's the Al Blozis Hospital, the Al Blozis Little League, Blozis Hall, a senior citizen's apartment house, and several other memorials. If you didn't know, you might think Blozis was a wealthy philanthropist. Instead, he was a rugged football player.
And a legitimate American hero.
Al died over forty years ago while serving his country. His grave in St. Avold Cemetary in France is marked by a plain white cross. The simple inscription reads "Alfred C. Blozis 2 lt 110 inf 28 div New Jersey Jan 31 1945." Similar crosses stand over the graves of thousands of Allied soldiers who died in World War II, and America recalls their sacrifice each Memorial Day. In Jersey City, they still remember Al Blozis daily.
Of the 638 National Football League players who served in World War II, 355 were commissioned as officers, 66 were decorated, and 21 lost their lives.
"Blozis died during the battle of Black Mountain, near Colmar (France)," said Joseph Scott, who served in the same regiment as Blozis and now is president of Hudson County (New Jersey) Community College. Scott said he knew Blozis was in his regiment, but they never saw each other.
"It (the fighting) was pretty fierce for a couple of days, considering it was cleanup duty. The war was practically over by that time."
On January 31, six weeks after he'd played in the 1944 NFL championship game, Lt. Blozis sent out a detail of nine men in the deep snows of the Vozges Mountains sector of France. Seven returned shortly through the heavy snow. When the other two had not reported in several hours, Blozis set out to look for them. His men saw him fade into the snow storm. Then there was one short blast of German machine-gun fire. Lt. Blozis was dead.
Four months later the regiment was sent home.
Al Blozis, of Lithuanian descent, was born on January 5, 1919, in Garfield, New Jersey. He grew very big very early.
Charles S. Witkowski, former mayor of Jersey City and Blozis' football coach at Dickinson High School, said he knew the giant youngster was going to be a great football player from the first time he saw Blozis.
Witkowski met Blozis in June of 1935. He had issued a call for players in Dickinson High School gym.
"In the gym, all the windows face the east and when I was talking to this group of boys, all I could see were their silhouettes lined up against the windows," Witkowski said. "I was talking to the group when this huge figure stood out. Al was 6 feet 6 inches tall, 250 pounds.
"Well, I kept my eye on this figure and called him over after the meeting. I said, `I'm going to make a tackle out of you.' "
"Then Al said, `Do you think so?'
"And I said, `Yeah, and I'm going to make a great tackle out of you.'"
Blozis did not let Witkowski down. He was an All-State tackle at Dickinson in 1937. High schoolers as big as Blozis are often awkward and uncoordinated. Not Al. He was a complete athlete. Along with his prowess on the football field, he earned letters in basketball, swimming, and shattered virtually every high school record in the shotput.
He continued to shotput in college and threw the 16-pound ball more than 60 feet for an unofficial world record. This feat has been compared to a miler breaking the four-minute barrier for the first time. One of the nicknames he picked up was "The Human Howitzer."
World War II halted his chances to compete in the Olympics. Otherwise, he might have put off his pro football career.
Georgetown University was at the height of its football success when Blozis entered. Under former New York Giant Jack Hagerty (assisted by two other former Giants, George Murtagh and Mush Dubofsky), the Hoyas achieved national prominance. During Blozis' freshman year, the team went undefeated and untied. In 1939, when Al first earned a letter, the undefeated streak continued, marred only by a 13-13 tie with Syracuse.
The first Georgetown loss in three years didn't come until near the end of the 1940 season when undefeated Boston College nipped them 19-18 in a famous game. A second loss came in the Orange Bowl against another undefeated team, Mississippi State. Prominent Hoya stalwarts through this period included guard Augie Lio, tackle Joe Frank, and halfback Jim Castiglia.
In Al's senior year, the team's record slipped a bit as they lost four games. That so-so mark probably cost Al some All-America citations, but he was selected to play in the College All-Star Game in Chicago, where he started at tackle over several All-Americans.
New York Giant football coach Steve Owen had been a great tackle in his day. He prided himself on building impregnable lines. Big Al -- the gentle giant of huge size and calm temper -- was just what he needed.
The Giants made Blozis their third draft choice in 1942. The New Yorkers, eastern division champs in 1941, had been hit hard by military call-ups. The team started strong, sagged through the middle of the season, and had to win its final two games to finish at .500.
Blozis was an impressive rookie, pairing with veteran Frank Cope to keep New York strong at the tackle position. Had there been an all-rookie team selected, he no doubt would have been named to it.
In 1943, the Giants finished second in the division and Big Al was named to virtually every All-NFL team, including the Associated Press, United Press, New York News, and Pro Football Illustrated. This was still before the two-platoon system, and players went both ways. Al was justly famous for his defensive prowess, but his offensive contributions brought him even more applause in '43. Rookie runner Bill Paschal bulled his way to a league-leading 572 yards and ten touchdowns, mostly running behind Blozis' earth-shaking blocks. Al also scored his only NFL touchdown in 1943 when he made a 15-yard pass reception on a tackle-eligible play. 1944 was a big year for the Giants. World War II call-ups had stripped the NFL of many of its stars, but the Giants still had Blozis, Cope, guard Len Younce, and Hall of Famer Mel Hein in the line. Ken Strong gave them strong place-kicking, and Arnie Herber came out of retirement to give New York a passing attack. Veteran Ward Cuff and Paschal were fine runners. Bill again led the league, this time with 737 yards and nine touchdowns. New York went 8-1-1, posting five shutouts, with both the loss and the tie suffered at the hands of the emerging Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles finished second to New York when they played a second tie with Washington and lost late in the year to the Bears. Unfortunately, Paschal was limping on a badly injured ankle for the championship game with the Packers, considerably reducing the Giants' attack. Although New York had topped Green Bay 24-0 only four weeks earlier, that had been with Paschal at full-throttle. The title game developed into a defensive struggle. Green Bay took a 14-0 lead at the half, and a New York second-half rally -- sparked by Herber passes -- could garner only one touchdown. Blozis entered the service right after the championship game. He didn't have to go. His size put him outside the limits of the draft, but he was determined to do his part. Six weeks later, he was killed. The Giants retired Blozis' number 32, and he has been named to several all-1940's teams despite his short career of only three years. In 1986 he was elected to the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame. One of the most fitting tributes is that the Dickinson High School gymnasium -- where it all began with his huge figure silhouetted against the window -- has been renamed the Alfred C. Blozis Gym. * * * BLOZIS, Alfred C. (The Human Howitzer) =PASS RECEIVING== YEAR TEAM LG GM PC YDS AVG TD PTS 1942 NYG N 11 - - - - - 1943 NYG N 10 1 15 15.0 1 6 1944 NYG N 2 - - - - - |
I've always liked him in "Vera Cruz"
Duantless dive bombers from the U.S.S. Lexington attack the Japanese carrier Shoho on the 4th. May 1942
”I admired Pat so much for volunteering when he had so much going for him as a pro athlete. That’s a pretty unique thing in our society,”
Sort of a sad commentary on our Society.
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