The Cost of Freedom

So many gave their youth, even their lives, for the freedom we enjoy. Some gained prominence during their civilian lives due to athletic achievements. This is in no way to disparage or minimize other achievements made by the fallen who paid the ultimate price. One way the picture of lost youth easily emerges is by considering athletes who walked away from fields of competition to fields of fire for the sake of country. One of the liberated Bataan survivors, Motts Tonelli (left), was such an athlete. His story is documented in Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides and is told in a USA Today piece.
Leatherneck.com tells the tales of many athletes including this one:
     "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.  Along with golfer Ben Hogan and boxer Joe Louis, Blozis was selected by United Press International as one of three outstanding athletes of 1941.
      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."
The inestimable toll of human loss for our freedom must never be forgotten or taken for granted. Their stories are worth reading - just as their lives were worth living. We must acknowledge thanks to the survivors and honor the sacrifices made.