In the sixty years since his untimely death, the story of All-American Al Blozis (C'42) is a vital part of the Georgetown athletics tradition. Much has been rightly written about his football prowess on the Hilltop, his track accolades, his NFL Rookie of the Year and All-Pro honors, but comparatively little about the battle in the Vosges Mountains that cost Blozis his life at the age of 26.
A reader to this web site, Mr. David Coats, has forwarded this account of Blozis' final battle from someone who witnessed it first hand, his father.
"My father, Lowell S. Coats, served with Al
Blozis during Blozis' very brief time in combat. My father served in
Co. A, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. He was the
Company Communications Sgt. at the time Lt. Blozis joined A Co. in
January, 1945, and was in an adjacent foxhole when Lt. Blozis was
mortally wounded.
"I thought I'd shed a little more light on that sad event in case you
wanted to update and clarify this portion of his bio on your web
site. If there are any of Blozis' family that maintain contact with
Georgetown perhaps they would appreciate this information as I doubt
they ever learned much about how he died.
"In January, 1945, the 110th Regiment was regrouping in Fumay France
after having been decimated during the initial days (Dec. 16-18,
1944) of the Battle of the Bulge. The 110th was in the direct path
of the German breakthrough and took the full brunt of the German
offensive. The Germans out numbered them by 10 to 1 and by the end
of the 3rd day of the battle the 110th ceased to exist as a fighting
unit. But before the regiment was completely overrun they had
managed to slow down the German advance putting them well off their
timetable and they had bought enough time to enable the 101st
Airborne Division to get into Bastogne before the Germans cut off
access to the city. This, too, would serve as one of the key
successes in the early days of the battle. The regiment suffered a
very high casualty rate of about 67% during the breakthrough. My
father's platoon would be the only surviving unit from A Co.
"Sometime in late January shortly after Lt. Blozis was assigned to A
Co. they were rushed south to the Colmar Pocket to assist the Third
Army in cleaning out the last remaining German forces west of the
Rhine. It was essentially the last German offensive of the war and
the men sometimes referred to this battle as the 'Little Battle of
the Bulge'. The 110th's 1st Battalion to which Co. A belonged was
held in reserve while the 2nd and 3rd battalions participated in the
liberation of Colmar and began the push to the Rhine. Although in
reserve, Co. A was nonetheless given the task of taking a prominent
point in the Vosges Mountains toward the rear of the combat zone near
the French town of Orbey. The mountain or large hill was called
Black Mountain by the Army but its real name was Le Cras. The
village of LaBaroche is nearby.
"My father didn't follow professional football and only knew that Lt.
Blozis had played for the Giants during the recently completed
season. I don't think any of the men knew he was a world record
holder in the shot put. The men had never seen a man so large and
powerful, and his size gained even more impact as they followed him
during the three-hour advance up Black Mountain through snow that was
waist deep. During the advance they encountered no German
resistance. It was Lt. Blozis' first day of combat.
"Upon reaching the summit they dug in as best they could but the
Germans didn't wait long to come calling. On the way up the company
passed by some old WWI pill boxes located at the mountain's base.
The Germans moved into those emplacements and began shelling Co. A.
Then they moved up the mountain and began attacking Co. A directly.
"My father's foxhole was adjacent to Lt. Blozis'. During the close-in
fighting Lt. Blozis took a grenade in his foxhole. He wasn't dead
but was gravely wounded. They did all they could to save him but
they badly needed to get him off the mountain and to a field hospital
as quickly as possible. The Company's CO and my father spent a great
deal of time on the radio with Division HQ's trying to work out how
to get him down the mountain but Gen'l Cota, the CG of the 28th
Division, said that it was still extremely dangerous and that it was
imperative that they stay put.
"Although they had repelled the German attack that first day they
still remained trapped there for two more days. Two men took it on
upon themselves to try to find a safe way off the mountain so that
Blozis could be evacuated but they were captured. One of the
captured men had a twin brother in the company and his twin had to be
restrained from going after his brother after he learned of his capture.
"After three days the Free French division broke through and brought
them off the mountain but it was too late for Lt. Blozis. Blozis was
the only death from enemy fire. The other casualties, in addition to
the two men who were captured, were men who had to be carried off the
mountain due to Trench Foot --their feet had frozen in the severe cold.
"One of the men carried down with frozen feet was one of my father's
best friends, Cecil Hannaford. They were brought down a different
way than the rest of the company. When Cecil came into the clearing
at the base of the mountain he was shocked to see dozens of dead
GI's, face down in the snow, having fallen right where they were cut
down during their advance on the base of the mountain in an attempt
to break through the German line and reach Co. A.
"Immediately upon their evacuation from Black Mountain around Feb.
3rd, Co. A was rushed to the front line and joined the rapid drive to
the Rhine. They would be the 1st to reach the Rhine in this sector.
"The severity of Lt. Blozis wounds combined with the intense cold and
the inability to evacuate him to a field hospital gave him no chance
of survival. I know if affected my father deeply. He was one of the
men trying to keep Lt. Blozis alive but in spite of their efforts he
had only been able to watch and listen to him slowly die. Of all the
misery my father experienced during his 6 months of combat, Lt.
Blozis' death would be one of his most difficult and painful memories."
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