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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • Service History Note: The veteran served as a squad grenadier.
  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division
  • Location of Service: Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort Riley, Kansas; Chu Lai, Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: Specialist Four

View full service history

"…but you have to understand this - this was 1968, this was playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nobody knew who existed on the Pittsburgh Steelers at that time." (video interview, 00:15:02.0)

By late 1968, Robert "Rocky" Bleier had been a championship-winning player for Notre Dame and a draft pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But 1968 would also be the year his draft notice arrived, and he very quickly found himself in infantry training, with a one year tour in Vietnam ahead of him. Bleier would twice be wounded in the thigh and foot during the same engagement outside Hiep Duc. Such wounds might have ended his football career, but as soon as he was discharged, with shrapnel still in his foot, Bleier went back to training with the Steelers and played for the team throughout, what many consider, their greatest decade in football.

Transcript: XML

About this Item

Title

  • Robert Patrick Bleier Collection

Names

  • Bleier, Robert Patrick
  • Durand, Judith
  • DAJDPR / New York Institute of Technology
  • Huber, Andrew

State of Birth

  • WI

Home State

  • PA

Headings

  • -  Bleier, Robert Patrick
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a squad grenadier.
    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division
    • Location of Service: Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort Riley, Kansas; Chu Lai, Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: Specialist Four
    • Dates of Service: 1968-1970
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 12/01/2016)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 12/01/2016)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/106914

Cite as

  • Robert Patrick Bleier Collection (AFC/2001/001/106914), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Bleier, Robert Patrick, Judith Durand, Dajdpr / New York Institute Of Technology, and Andrew Huber. Robert Patrick Bleier Collection. 1968. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.106914/.

APA citation style:

Bleier, R. P., Durand, J., Dajdpr / New York Institute Of Technology & Huber, A. (1968) Robert Patrick Bleier Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.106914/.

MLA citation style:

Bleier, Robert Patrick, et al. Robert Patrick Bleier Collection. 1968. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.106914/>.