Oral History Interview with Ben Blaz, October 8, 1994 Page: 57
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Blaz:
Marcello:
Blaz:
Marcello:
Blaz:
Marcello:
Blaz:
Marcello:
Blaz:
Marcello:
Blaz:I actually was going into the Marine Corps at the time
I was still at Notre Dame. I was in ROTC [Reserve
Officers Training Corps].
Okay.
Then I got commissioned. That commission depended upon
my receipt of a baccalaureate degree.
And you went in the Marine Corps when?
In 1951.
And you stayed until?
Until 1980, twenty-nine years later.
And you retired from the Marine Corps as a...
Brigadier general.
...brigadier general.
And then I went out and ran for Congress, and I went to
Congress. (Chuckle) I did it only because, after I got
out of the Marine Corps, it was kind of like [the line
in] that movie, "What do I do now?" [Reference a line
in the Robert Redford film, "The Candidate."]
(laughter)
I'd like to make the point now, and I do it with
some sense of pride--that I'm am very proud to havecarried both the pen and the sword. And I'll tell you
this--the pen is bloodier that the sword. The pen is
bloodier than the sword. The things that we did in
Washington--things that members of Congress do in
committee meeting battles, without the slightest idea57
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Blaz, Ben. Oral History Interview with Ben Blaz, October 8, 1994, text, October 8, 1994; Fredericksburg, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1606451/m1/59/?rotate=270: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting National Museum of the Pacific War/Admiral Nimitz Foundation.