Rocky Bleier

Robert Patrick "Rocky" Bleier was an American professional league running back for the Pittsburg Steelers, wearing number 20 in 1968 and from 1970 to 1980, and a four-time Super Bowl champion in Super Bowls IX, X, XII, and XIV. After his rookie season with the Steelers, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and volunteered for duty in South Vietnam with Company C, 4th Battalion (light), 31st, Infantry Divison. Assigned as a squad grenadier with a 40mm M79 grenade launcher, specialist 4 Bleier was wounded in the left thigh by enemy fire on August 20, 1969, while on patrol in "HIEP DUC" when his platoon was ambushed in a rice paddy. While he was down, an enemy grenade landed nearby and sent shrapnel into his lower right leg, and he lost part of his right foot in the blast. He was later awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, Bronze Star Medals, and the Purple Heart.

Clinton, Ohio · United States