The 35th Infantry Regiment Association salutes our fallen brother, PFC Don Gilbert Blandford, RA18207794, who died in the service of his country on August 18th, 1950 in South Korea. The cause of death was listed as KIA. At the time of his death Don was 22 years of age. He was from Fort Worth, Texas. Don's Military Occupation Specialty was 4812-Heavy Weapons Infantryman.

The decorations earned by PFC Don Gilbert Blandford include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Korea Service Medal, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

---

Before entering the service Don worked for the Tasty Pie Company.

BURIAL LOCATION GREENWOOD MEMORIAL PARK, FORT WORTH, TX

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Friday, September 1, 1950, p. 1:

3rd Ft. Worth Man Is Killed In Korea

Fort Worth's third Korean war fatality is Pfc. Don Gilbert Blandford, 22, Army cook, who in a recent letter asked his mother not to worry because his duties kept him "way behind the front lines."

A telegram delivered to his aunt, Mrs. W. J. Boardman, 722 Parkdale, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday brought word that the former Polytechnic High School student was killed in action Aug. 18.

Blandford had lived with the aunt after his father, Gilbert M. Blandford, was killed in an auto accident in Oklahoma 12 years ago. Mrs. Boardman notified the soldier's mother, Mrs. R. C. Harvey, 4316 Lisbon, of the message.

Both women recently received letters from Blandford.

He wrote his aunt a few days before he was killed to "stop worrying about me ... I'm only one of thousands over here." She said the young soldier promised that he'd return home.

The letter to his mother was written about the same time.

He formerly attended Polytechnic Baptist Church and at one time was a baker for Tasty Pie Corporation, 1731 College.

Blandford entered the Army in the spring of 1946 and re-enlisted last year. He was last here in July of 1949 on a 90-day re-enlistment furlough. Then he went to Osaka, Japan, to join the 25th Division.

Survivors include two sisters, Peggy Ann, 16, and Sally Jean, 12, and a half-brother, Fred, 8, who lives with Mrs. Harvey, and a grandfather, A. L. Blandford, El Reno, Okla.


From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Thursday, June 14, 1951, p. 51:

Mrs. R. C. Harvey of 4316 Lisbon has received a telegram stating that the boyd of her son, Pvt. 1st Class Don Gilbert Blandford, killed in Korea, is en route here for reburial.

Blandford, a member of a mortar shell squad, died in battle Aug. 18. He was buried in Korea.

Mrs. Harvey said that she will receive another telegram notifying her when the body will arrive. Her son attended Polytechnic High School.


From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Tuesday, July 3, 1951, p. 14:

The body of Pvt. Don G. Blandford, 22, who was killed in Korea Aug. 18, will arrive in Fort Worth Thursday. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Harvey of 4316 Lisbon.

Funeral services for the infantryman will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at Ray Crowder Chapel. Military services will be conducted at Greenwood Cemetery.

Blandford had been in the Army four years. He enlisted while a student at Polytechnic High School. He was killed in action near Pusan.

Surviving in addition to his parents are two sisters, Peggy Ann and Sally Jean Blandford, and a brother, Fred Harvey, all of Fort Worth.