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Specialist Michael Reinert Blanchfield was born on January 4, 1950, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While he was young, he and his family moved to Wheeling, a suburb of Chicago, and specialist Blanchfield graduated from Wheeling High School. He enlisted in the US Army in 1967, shortly after his high school graduation.
He was assigned to the 503rd Infantry Division of the 173rd Airborne, and then Special Michael Blanchfield deployed to the Binh Dinh Province of Vietnam for the Vietnam War.
Specialist Michael Blanchfield earned a Congressional Medal of Honor on July 3, 1969, during a search and destroy mission. A Viet Cong soldier threw two grenades into his unit's location, and Specialist Blanchfield smothered one grenade with his body, saving the lives of his team.
He rests at the All Saints Catholic Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois.
Everyday Patriot Military Biographies
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