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He was actually a bit of an afterthought in the 1966 ND national championship backfield behind Nick Eddy and Larry Conjar. But he grew! In Nam and then in Pittsburgh.
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Link: Fighting Back, The Rocky Bleier Story
mentioned by any of the three. My wife had an uncle serve there and later suffered with Parkinson's Disease and later succumbed to ALS, which I am not sure can be attributed to being there. However, my cousin who received the Silver Star and who suffers from a mild form of leukemia also attributed to the Agent Orange never, never, never mentions the war or his heroics and has always considered himself blessed even though later in life he lost a daughter at age 18 in a car accident on top of what must be his loss of something. He is perhaps the most humble person I have ever known. I was ready to go with a draft number of 172 but the war ended and I never had to serve. I saw how those Veterans were treated when they came home and it scares me because I am reminded of the behavior then when I see what I consider worse behavior from the left now.
I remember seeing Rocky one time before he left to serve when he was visiting the ND weight room which was so miniscule at the time. He was built like an absolute mountain. I remember thinking the powerful shoulders took up the width of the doorway, all on a fairly average height man. He was greeted very warmly and respectively by the guy running the place.
Sorry if this should have been put on the Open.
My Dad served in Vietnam in the 101st Airborne Division. He was a sniper. I served in the 82nd. We were hit on the same day only 20 years apart in different hemispheres. My Dad is my hero and Rocky definitely fits the mold. After going through what Rocky went through and making the Pittsburgh Steelers was amazing. The guy is a legend to me.