By J. Gerald Harris
The Christian Index
RUTLEDGE, Ga. — There was a time when Steven Blanton said, “If I died in Vietnam, I know I would go straight to hell.”
However, all that changed after the birth of Steven and Gerann Blanton’s first child. The Blantons wanted their son to be dedicated to the Lord, and Pastor Bill Alexander came to their home to talk about planning for their son Chris’s dedication.
Alexander asked, “Steve, how can you dedicate your newborn son to the Lord when you are not dedicated to the Lord?”
Blanton recalled, “That is all it took. I knelt with brother Bill at the foot of my bed and asked Jesus to come into my heart and save me. I’ve never looked back, and that was truly the most important event in my life. I know Gerann uttered many prayers on my behalf before that glorious evening.”
Blanton now testifies, “The fact that Jesus laid down on the cross to provide a way of salvation for me absolutely overwhelms me.”
Blanton has been a faithful member of Rutledge Baptist Church, where he has served as Sunday School director and teacher, treasurer, and trustee. He has also been a part of the Gideon Ministry for the past 40 years.
“After my love for Christ,” declared Blanton, “my family is my greatest blessing, beginning with Gerann, and our four grown children.” The Blantons’ children and their spouses have given them 13 grandchildren.
Blanton not only loves the Lord and his family, but he loves his country and served for 31 years in the United States Army, achieving the rank of Brigadier General.
On Veterans Day, grateful, loyal Americans will acknowledge the brave men and women who have served our country in the military. Abraham Lincoln said, “Any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure.” Blanton represents the best of American veterans.
He graduated from South Cobb High School in Austell, Georgia, in 1966 as the Vietnam War intensified. Blanton had two brothers in the Marines, and he dreamed of piloting a jet fighter in the Marine Corps. Motivated by his dream of becoming a military pilot, he joined the Army cadet corps at North Georgia College and welcomed the opportunity to engage in the free flight courses provided by the school’s ROTC Flight Training program.
Blanton’s ROTC training included a summer at Fort Bragg, where his instruction centered on jungle warfare in what he called “the hottest place on earth.” Despite cutting off the fuel in a Cessna 150 and having to land in a cow pasture on one of his first solo flights and getting lost on one occasion when attempting to fly back to Dahlonega from Gainesville, Blanton’s competence and leadership ability were noted, and he graduated from North Georgia College and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. A week after his graduation, he married Gerann on June 6, 1970.
After months of intensive flight training on the UH-1 Huey helicopter at Fort Rucker in Dale County, Alabama, Blanton graduated from flight school and Gerann pinned his wings on him. He was officially an Army aviator. He eventually transitioned to a Cobra assault helicopter. The Cobra was a lighter, faster, and more agile helicopter, making it suitable for roles such as supporting amphibious offensives.
In August of 1972, Lieutenant Blanton landed at the Ton Son Knut Airfield and Camp Alpha near Saigon in South Vietnam. The United States was in the process of withdrawing troops, but the year was marked by intense fighting, and U.S. airpower was used to support South Vietnamese forces.
Blanton would fly his Huey, spot the enemy on the ground, call in the coordinates, and call for the B-52 bombers to come in for a strike. There were times when the enemy was gone by the time the bombers arrived. Blanton’s helicopter was targeted time and time again by the Viet Cong, but always seemed to escape disaster.
One mission to Cambodia resulted in a near catastrophe for Blanton. On the return trip to their base in Can Tho, the crew encountered two fierce storms moving toward each other. The captain who was piloting the CH-47 Chinook with 17 on board, attempted to increase his flight speed to get through the storm before the two weather fronts collided. The ‘copter was suddenly in zero visibility, with rumbling thunder, flashing lightning, and complete darkness engulfing the helicopter.
Blanton, who had more flight experience than the captain, took over the controls and got everyone on board safely back to the base. He said, “In retrospect, I could see clearly that close call was another time that the Lord was looking out for me.”
According to Pete Mecca, a freelance writer and also a Vietnam veteran, “Blanton was in flight over Cambodia when a Colonel onboard the Huey spotted an enemy concentration and called Navy jets to assault the enemy encampment. The Navy pilots were over the target in a matter of minutes, but could not see any North Vietnamese soldiers.
“The Navy pilots requested that the helicopter get down to within 500 feet of the Viet Cong soldiers and drop a smoke grenade to mark the target. Blanton explained, ‘We went down. I pulled the pin on the smoke grenade and dropped it out the window so the Navy pilots could see the target. Bullets were flying all over the sky, but not one round hit the Huey, but the U.S. Navy hit their target, and we flew back to the base.’”
While the Paris Peace Talks, started in 1968, failed to produce positive results, the U.S. military continued to fight.
Blanton stated, “In spite of the failed attempts to end the war, we were all soldiers and bound by our oath of office to carry out orders to the best of our ability. We would do that regardless of what the politicians decided until we were told to do differently.”
Blanton’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star for Meritorious Service, Air Medal with “V” device for Valor, six Air Medals, two Meritorious Service Medals, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Defense Service Medal, four Army Achievement Medals, Vietnam Service Ribbon, Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm, National Defense Service Medal and the Army Aviator Badge. His state awards include the Georgia Meritorious Service Medal, Georgia Humanitarian Service Ribbon, Mississippi Humanitarian Service Ribbon, and State Active Duty Ribbon.
The veterans and the men and women who have pledged to serve and protect our country are heroes, and we must not reserve our appreciation for them on just one day of the year, but every day that the sweet sound of freedom rings over our blessed nation.
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