Ben Blount Memorial
Former Laguna Greenbelt Board member Ben Blount passed away in the Spring of 2009; the following is his Eulogy. The Eulogy of Colonel Benjamin F. Blount III AUS(Ret) delivered by Colonel Charles Quilter, USMC(Ret) at the Veterans Memorial, Heisler Park, Laguna Beach on June 12, 2009.
Good morning. My name is Charlie Quilter. I welcome you on behalf of the Blount family, Gigi, and Ben’s children, Ben. Jr., Shash, Mary Anne, Will, and Colette, as we render final honors to this man, husband, father, grandfather, friend, and soldier. Now, some of you know that I am a retired Marine and may be wondering – hey, how come a Marine is standing here? Well, let me tell you, I had plenty of competition for this spot because Ben Blount was a wonderful human being who touched the lives of so many of us. And now I get to tell you just a few bits – all too few — about him now.
Benjamin Franklin Blount III – yes, he was descended from that Benjamin Franklin was born in San Francisco on January 2nd, 1922. He came from a long line of people who served this nation in time of war. His father, Ben, had been a career soldier who served in five conflicts beginning with the Spanish-American War of 1898. He retired as a sergeant major, the Army’s highest enlisted rank, after serving in the bloody First World War in France. It was only then that Ben’s father settled down, married, and raised a family. So early on, Ben was inculcated with the idea of service to country as he was growing up in San Francisco.
Until Navy Captain Dick Cuciti told me of it, I had not been aware that Ben had attained the highest rank in Boy Scouting, that of Eagle Scout in about 1938. For those that don’t know, in order to become an Eagle Scout, you have to perform some extraordinary deed of public service. Ben did – and would continue his service to scouting long after his retirement. As he did in all of his many deeds of service, he did them in his characteristically quiet manner. And every year, he mentored young men seeking this highest goal of scouting.
Ben graduated from high school in the middle of the Great Depression and then somehow managed to put himself through a couple of years of college. Like many others at the time, the dire economy forced him to give up his dreams of more education, and he had to go to work. He became a purchasing agent for the Department of Justice, which included the federal prison system and the prison on Alcatraz. Then the attack on Pearl Harbor changed everything. America was at war. Now, many of you know that Ben did not talk much about his wartime experiences, so if I may, I’d like to tell you a little about them now.
Ben enlisted in the Army in February of 1943. Now here’s an interesting story: by education and work background, Ben was immediately qualified to become an officer. His dad, the sergeant major, however, had somewhat a low regard for officers. (I can hear you ask: Why was that, colonel?) Anyway, he made Ben promise that he would not take an officer’s commission.
However, the Army recognized particular talents when it saw them, and after training, Ben was assigned to the 1st Engineer Special Brigade that specialized in amphibious logistical operations. By the way, the Marines call this “combat service support” because it involves being on the pointy end of things rather than “being in the rear with the gear.” Ben in fact was a Sharpshooter with the M-1 rifle. Leaving his baby boy, Ben, in California, he sailed for Europe in March of 1944 as the Allies built up for the liberation of Europe from Nazi domination. While bivouacked in England, he visited London on a short pass and there –quite unexpectedly– underwent his first enemy attack. How many of you know that Ben Blount had the dubious honor of experiencing history’s first cruise missile attack, when several German V-1 “buzz bombs” landed near his vicinity? Folks, the high-explosive warheads of these things weighed nearly a ton, and being anywhere near the impact point of one of them was most definitely a chime-ringing experience! That is, if you survived it!
A few days ago, we celebrated the 65th anniversary of the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy. It was greatest amphibious landing in the history of warfare. As a Marine, I will tell you with absolute certainty — that the most difficult kind of warfighting is carrying out an amphibious assault on a shore that is defended by the enemy. And Normandy was more than difficult. Within five days some 325,000 Allied troops, 54,000 vehicles and over 100,000 tons of supplies had come ashore — including one Corporal Blount.
But the landings came at a terrible price: on the first day alone there were over 10,000 Allied casualties. Ben’s role –after surviving the landing itself—was as a beachmaster, who was tasked in getting supplies ashore in order to sustain the assault. Much of the time while he was under fire because the German forces knew full well that no invading force could survive long without sustainment. And so these supplies became an attractive target of the enemy who furiously fought back. And it wasn’t just enough to get the stuff across the beach and up the cliffs. Just as bad was the fighting in the hedgerow fields that made up the countryside in Normandy. In those days, every field was enclosed by thorny, bramble bushes rising over fifteen feet high. These hedgerows of Normandy – called Le Bocage in French — obscured everything from view. Every hedgerow one could be a trap, a situation that greatly favored the German defenders. It was truly awful. And it explains why the campaign to seize Normandy lasted nearly three very long and bloody months.
On a visit with Gigi to Normandy 57 years later, Ben took ill — so ill in fact – that a doctor was called in. The doctor reported to Gigi that he had observed this condition often in veterans of the Normandy landings when they returned. And it speaks volumes about what happened there
Once free of the “hedgerow battles,” Ben’s unit was ordered to race ahead of the main forces to Paris in order to help General DeGaulle, who was head of the Free French Forces, establish a viable headquarters there. Now that must have been a highly dangerous but — one very exciting foray for a young soldier!
From there, they went north through France to seize the Belgian port of Antwerp. Antwerp would become the main Allied port for transshipment of supplies for the coming march into Nazi Germany. The Germans understood its full importance as well, and in the last major battle on the Western Front, Germany launched a massive counterattack to recapture Antwerp. The ensuing fight was called the Battle of Bulge, and it cost over 19,000 American lives, the greatest number of U.S. casualties of any battle in that war. Ben participated in the mopping up operation, and it would be his last combat action. But not before the most important meeting of his life took place!
Now, you all know that there’s a great love story here, so get out your hankies. In late 1944, Ben’s unit was operating in Charleroi, a city in central Belgium, not far from the Belgian border. In fact, when you think of it, all of Belgium is close to the German border, which may explain why it was occupied in the two world wars. Charleroi had a university, and there he encountered a certain former student named Ghislaine Sebille. Mlle. Sebille had been known as Gigi ever since she was a young girl; and she was petite, intelligent, vivacious –– okay, let’s say it like how Ben was probably thinking about her at the time — she was cute, bright and sassy. She still is.
She was also incredibly courageous. During the Nazi occupation of Belgium, she had been recruited into the Resistance while a student. Her mission: escort Allied airmen who had been shot down safely through Nazi-held territory by walking on country roads or riding on streetcars with them while pretending to be their girlfriend. . If she had been caught, the penalty was death. At one point, she was interrogated by the Gestapo. They didn’t like her answers, and one of them beat her so badly that her mother didn’t recognize her after she was released. Gigi and her sister were taken immediately into hiding until Belgium was freed by its liberators, one of whom was a certain six-foot three-inch handsome Californian named Blount. They would be inseparable for the next sixty-five years — despite obstacles during the first couple of years in the form of military bureaucracy. “They” didn’t want you to get married, especially overseas! And Madame Sebille took a little time to be won over by Ben as well. Finally they were married in late 1946. Ben’s dad had died shortly after the war, and now Ben was free to accept a field commission, a great distinction then or now.
Ben Blount Eulogy
Over the next thirty years — almost to the end of the long Cold War, Ben served in the Army reserve, mostly as a logistician – quietly, knowledgeably, and very effectively as was his style – rising on merit to colonel — and even serving in a general officer’s slot at one point. He received several personal decorations along the way and retired officially in 1982 after 39 years of active and reserve service. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s service to the country!
Gigi arrived in America in 1947 and began her discovery of that different and interesting land called California. Gigi discovered Laguna Beach personally, and in about 1976 declared: “Poppy, we are living here.” Well, it didn’t take too much persuading of Ben to retire here, and we in Laguna have been much the richer for it. Gigi and Ben raised four children, Shash, Will, Colette (or Coco), and Mary Anne. They are here today with their own children as is Ben, Jr. Now, all of us here have come in various ways to greatly admire Ben’s many good deeds to country and community, whether it be mentoring a myriad of Eagle Scout candidates, helping found LANO, working to preserve the natural spaces and environment – Ben was very green – or serving tirelessly in our local American Legion Post 222 or Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5868.
But — his children have reminded me of his human side as well. Ben spoke perfect French, and that was to be the secret language Gigi and Ben communicated in when little ears were nearby. Ben never forgot he was a soldier. There were his seemingly strange eating habits: pickles, peanut butter, nuts, candy, sardines, all neatly separated and eaten in sequence. Folks, to anyone who has had to live on C-rations for any length of time, this isn’t strange at all! It’s completely rational!
Yes, Ben was a soldier, so why not take Gigi and the kids bivouacking? (I’m not sure this was before or after crashing the mast of the family sailboat into a bridge. Maybe some soldiers are better off staying on land, I don’t know). In any case to be completely honest, after the war ended, Gigi’s idea of roughing it was eating at outdoor cafes. No one in her family had ever gone camping! Her belief was perfectly justified on a family expedition to Utah. Venturing cautiously from the car to the tent Ben had set up –at last—she got inside only to have it collapse around her. She wanted Laguna!
Then for me, there was the matter of all these French cars, that fleet of Citroens clogging the garage and driveway. Good heavens! Sacre bleu! How did these all get here?? The answer eventually came from Gigi, who says Ben was very impressed by the Citroen assigned to him in Paris after the war when he had become a lieutenant. (You can safely bet they don’t assign cars to lieutenants anymore, but this was… PARIS!) Anyway, Citroens it would be, and lots of ‘em too. Was it five or six? No one seems to know for sure.
But above all, the story of Ben Blount was a love story. He loved his country, loved his community, his family, and most of all, his Gigi. Who among us has ever seen the two of them, hand and hand, like teenagers on a date and not wished to ourselves: this is how to live life! Why can’t we be like that? We should all be so lucky! Now shortly, Ben Blount will receive his final salute. I am proud – and oh so fortunate – to have been his friend. We all are. Thank you.