For What They Gave on Saturday Afternoon

Glen & Ann Blumhardt 

 Football, 2 Army “A”s, Stars. 1st Regimental Comd, Vice President; 325th Airborne Inf, USMA, MACV, 101st Airborne, CO 1/30th Inf, ODCSO USAREUR, ODCSOPS, G3 XVIII Corps. When he and George closed on Mike Ditka, they stopped him in his tracts. As Mike jogged back to the Pittsburg huddle, George and Al helped him to his feet. Spitting out most of 5 teeth, all he could say was “Well at least we stopped him”. Defensive Back of the Week. Believed using a pencil with eraser to do Crosswords was cheating. Pen only. (Al Rushatz flew Mission after Mission attempting to contact Glen when the Vietnamese Regiment Glen was Advising was over run.  Glen led his RTO out.)

Only 2 Years of eligibility due to a year at Wisconsin – 2 Army A’s.

If you can’t figure out where Glen is — extreem right #27 already returning to the ball.

This snapshot of Glen Blumhardt’s life was captured by the 1940 U.S. Census.
When Glen Blumhardt was born about 1937, his father, Emil, was 36 and his mother, Olive, was 38. In 1940, he was 3 years old and lived in Stuntz, Minnesota, with his father, mother, brother, and sister.

GLEN ALGER BLUMHARDT E-1 Glen Mondovi, Wisconsin. As one of the “old men” of the Class of ’62, Glen arrived at USMA after two years of college and a two-year hitch in the Army. Dividing his time between the classroom and the football field there were ups and downs to be shared in both. A “Yankee” with a weakness for North Carolinian southern hospitality, he will be a credit to the Academy and his class. Captain 1; Stars 3; Football 4, 3, 2, Numerals 4, Major A 3, 2; Wrestling 4; Class Committee 3, 2, 1, Vice-President 1; Spanish Club 3; Parachute Club 4; Automobile Committee, Chairman.

BS-V, LM, DSMN CIB

GLEN A. BLUMHARDT 1962

Cullum No. 23889-1962 | February 24, 2019 | Died in Chapel Hill, NC
Interred in Arlington National Cemetery, VA     

Glen Alger Blumhardt was born in Hibbing, MN on August 5, 1936, the youngest child of Emil and Olivia Blumhardt. In l943, the family moved to Mondovi, WI where Glen excelled in academics and sports at Mondovi High School, graduating in l954. 

Recruited for football and basketball, Glen attended the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, where he played football. After two years, and in search of warmer climates, Glen enlisted in the Army as a paratrooper and arrived at Fort Bragg, NC as an infantryman in the 325th Airborne Battle Group in the 82nd Airborne Division. Serving in a rifle company, Glen quickly rose to the rank of corporal and was subsequently selected to attend the West Point Prep School.

Glen arrived at the Prep School at Fort Belvoir, VA in the fall of 1957. It is universally understood that all men, regardless of rank or position, pull charge of quarters (CQ). Without exception, Cadet Company Commander Blumhardt assumed the watch one April night in 1958 with the final task of playing ‘reveille’ at sunrise. According to Jim Ellis (then cadet company first sergeant), Blumhardt deviated from protocol and opted to sound First Call with the Everly Brothers’ recent hit “Wake Up Little Susie,” to the delight of his fellow cadet candidates. The senior TAC NCO, known to be somewhat humorless, was not nearly as entertained and summarily relieved Glen of his weekend liberty.

Glen entered USMA where he played football for three years and then assisted from the sidelines as an assistant/position coach his final year, due to eligibility constraints from having played ball at Wisconsin. He also excelled academically, earning stars during Third Class year.

 Respected by his peers and superiors alike, he was elected as class vice president and served as a regimental commander, having the honor of escorting Mrs. Douglas MacArthur during the general’s “Duty, Honor, Country” address to the Corps in May 1962. Glen, along with classmates Jim Ellis, Mike Grebe, and George Kirschenbauer also attended General MacArthur’s birthday celebration at the general’s residence during that same time frame. 

Glen developed many close friendships during the course of his cadet years that lasted the rest of his lifetime; he once remarked about a time when he broke both thumbs playing football and could not use either of his hands saying, “It’s predicaments like these when you truly find out who your friends are.” 

Glen graduated as the “Old Man” of the class at the age of 24 and was commissioned Infantry.

Upon graduation, Glen married his sweetheart, Ann Elaine Barker of Hillsborough, NC at the West Point Cadet Chapel. They honeymooned with Al and Linda Rushatz and then reported to

Fort Benning, GA for Infantry training with many fellow grads. There, he welcomed the birth of his daughter and graduated as the distinguished honor graduate of Ranger School. 

Following Benning, Glen returned to the 82nd Airborne Division. One evening, while watching the Army-Navy Game on television at home, Glen was telephoned by the XVIIIth Corps Commander (Lieutenant General Westmoreland), who was frustrated by the score and wanted Glen to explain what the Army Football Team was doing. Perhaps this call prepared Glen for his next assignment at USMA as the Commandant’s aide de camp. Next, he and Ann traveled across the country to Monterey, CA for language school in preparation for a tour as an advisor in Vietnam.

As a military advisor with the 7th ARVN Regiment, located at the Michelin Rubber Plantation (1965-66), Glen was supported by dear friend and teammate Al Rushatz, piloting aircraft from nearby Phu Loi. Their friendship proved invaluable immediately following the Battle of the Michelin Rubber Plantation, which witnessed the “death of the 7th Regiment” and the loss of many American advisors, as his old friend flew around the clock sorties relaying critical information and support.

While finishing graduate studies in mathematics at RPI in Troy, NY, Glen and Ann welcomed the arrival of their son. Shortly after, Glen returned to Vietnam (1970-71) with the 101st Airborne Division and then transitioned back to USMA where he taught in the Math Department. Glen retired from the Army in 1987 after serving as the XVIII Corps G-3 at Fort Bragg and in various other assignments, including Fort Campbell, KY; Fort Leavenworth, KS; Germany; Carlisle, PA; and Washington, DC.

Glen and Ann retired to Hillsborough, NC, where Ann grew up. Never idle, Glen strived to remain mentally sharp through his continued daily pursuit of mind teasers and crossword puzzles—dedicated until the very end to only writing in ink while jokingly disparaging others for using pencil. He remained physically active as a competitive tennis player and avid snow skier. He developed a successful construction business in the Raleigh area and then retired a second time years later. He continued to foster his friendships, and he and Ann regularly attended annual reunions along with countless mini reunions. They routinely traveled abroad with classmates and, in 2012, Glen explored the Caribbean by way of a small fleet of vessels crewed solely by classmates. Glen’s boat was captained by his old friend and roommate, Bob Krause, and fellow crewmate, Tom Simcox.

Glen remained a loving husband and a devoted father and grandfather. He was gifted with an exceptionally clever wit and a sense of humility; he would not have enjoyed reading this about himself. As he was known to say, “Don’t ever pat yourself on the back—if you are deserving, someone else will do it for you.”

—LTC (R) Glen Blumhardt Jr.