The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Documentary shows Bleier’s return to Vietnam
Rocky Bleier thought he made peace with what happened in a rice paddy in Vietnam on Aug. 20, 1969.
What the former Steelers running back didn’t have though was closure until a trip back there last year.
Bleier’s visit to Vietnam — the first time he had been back since being injured in battle — is the subject of ESPN’s “The Return”, which debuts Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. A shorter version began airing Aug. 17 on “SportsCenter” as part of its weekly SC Featured series.
“It was a different catharsis than I anticipated,” Bleier said. “Unlike the average veteran who returned after service and had to repress those feelings, I came back to a high-profile industry and became a story. In some regards it was cathartic (during his playing days) that I had to talk about it.”
Bleier’s story remains one of perseverance. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 16th round in 1968 only to be drafted into the U.S. Army during his rookie season. Three months after being deployed, Bleier was shot through his thigh and suffered a grenade blast where shrapnel severely damaged his right foot and both legs when his “Charlie Company” unit was ambushed during a recovery operation in the Hiep Duc Valley.
Of the 33 soldiers in the infantry unit, 25 were injured and four killed.
Doctors were able to save Bleier’s foot but told him he would never play football again. Not only did Bleier recover from his injuries, but he was an integral part of the Steelers’ four Super Bowl teams in the 1970s.
He remains one of the most beloved players in franchise history. The feature opens with Bleier’s induction into their Ring of Honor last year.
“It’s a tragedy, I wish the war had never happened,” Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris says during the film. “But if we change anything would the Old Man (Art Rooney) have put Rocky on the team and would Rocky have worked as hard as we had, and would we have four Super Bowls?”
Bleier acknowledges that the trip happened at the right time since his war and NFL experiences are intertwined.
Getting Bleier to return to Vietnam was one of ESPN producer Jon Fish’s dream projects and happened after nearly 10 years of discussions. ESPN green-lighted it in March 2017 and the trip happened last August with Bleier, Fish, reporter Tom Rinaldi and a camera crew flying into Da Nang, which is 35 miles from the Hiep Duc Valley.
Bleier kept telling Fish and Rinaldi not to expect a lot of emotion before the trip, but all of that changed when he finally got to the area. After giving Bleier time to walk around and take everything in, Rinaldi caught up with him and asked what he was feeling.
At that point, Bleier began to break down and weep.
“All of a sudden I had an overwhelming feeling of loss and sadness,” he said. “Why did we fight this war? Why did we lose 58,000 soldiers and in all honesty for what? Maybe for first time I can understand on a slight basis the impact that our soldiers go through and maybe just a little what post-traumatic stress might be and how the body reacts to all the emotions.”
Shortly after Bleier was overcome emotionally, he collapsed while walking through the area due to heatstroke and was taken to a clinic to be evaluated. He returned back to the rice paddy two days later.
Fish — who has been producing features for 22 years — said he was surprised that cameras were still rolling when Bleier collapsed.
“We were extremely calm and worried about his well being. When you do a TV shoot it is very involved and planned hour by hour but all of that went out the window,” Fish said. “Here we are worried about Rocky and he wanted to go back and finish.”