Felix Anthony “Doc” Blanchard, Jr. was born in McColl, SC, on 11 Dec 1924. His parents, now deceased, were Mary Tatum Blanchard and Felix Anthony Blanchard, Sr. He was reared in Bishopville, SC, with one sister, Mary Elizabeth, and attended public school there. His father was a family physician and wanted his son to play football and learn to dance because he said that it was no fun to play football on Saturday afternoon if you couldn’t dance with the girls on Saturday night. “Doc” danced as well as he played football.
His father was a graduate of St. Stanislaus in Bay St. Louis, MI, so Doc attended high school there and graduated in 1942. At St. Stanislaus he was known as “smiling Doc” and was an outstanding athlete recruited by many colleges because of his football skills. He chose to matriculate at the University of North Carolina, played freshman football there, and was conscripted into the military in March of 1943, where he served until he received his appointment to the United States Military Academy in March 1944.
He entered the Academy in June of 1944, and despite the fact that he had served for one year as an enlisted man in chemical warfare training, he said that his pride allowed him to survive Beast Barracks. As a cadet, he was known for his modesty, great sense of humor and zest for life, as well as his athletic exploits. He was proud to be a member of the Long Gray Line and truly lived by the code of Duty, Honor, Country. His rank as cadet lieutenant was revoked two months prior to graduation for failure to attend an evening lecture.
West Point produced some of the finest football teams of all time in 1944, 1945, and 1946. The Army team was national champion for two consecutive years. Doc played fullback on offense, linebacker on defense and was a football All-American for three years. In 1945 he won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Cup, the Walter Camp Trophy, and the Sullivan Award, recognizing the outstanding amateur athlete in all sports. He also won the ICAAAA shot put championship. In his acceptance speech for the Heisman Trophy he said, I feel very lonely standing here without the other ten men who made it possible for me to receive this honor. In 1945, the town of Bishopville honored him with a banquet and presented him with a silver service. In that speech, he thanked the citizens of Bishopville for the banquet and silver service and said, "Football players are like little girls, they should be seen and not heard," and sat down.
During his furlough after graduation in 1947, he and Glenn Davis went to Hollywood and made a movie entitled The Spirit of West Point. There were many inaccuracies in the movie. Doc said that their drama coach said that he and Glenn got worse every day with acting skills, so the movie did not win any prizes. Doc had a great time spending the summer in Hollywood, and the financial gain helped to compensate for not being able to play one season of professional football.
He became a second lieutenant in the Air Force and earned his wings in October 1948 at Williams Air Force Base. His career in the Air Force was varied. During 1960–61, he commanded the 77th Tactical Fighter Squadron stationed at Wethersfield, United Kingdom. He was awarded an air force commendation for landing a burning F-100 Super Sabre rather than eject over a village, and said there was nothing to it. No man is going to eject from an aircraft flying over a village. Subsequently, he was the freshman football coach at West Point and later assistant athletic director at the Air Force Academy. He was deputy for operations of the 474th fighter wing stationed in Karat and flew 84 missions over Vietnam. At the time of his retirement in 1971, he was inspector general for the Third Air Force stationed in Austin, TX. After retirement, he served as commandant of the New Mexico Military Institute located in Roswell, NM, for two years. Subsequently, he enjoyed boating, fishing, and golf.
Following graduation from the military academy in 1947, he was stationed at Randolph Field in San Antonio, TX. He and three other second lieutenants rented a house on Lake Seguin. A charming girl named Jody King came by in a sail boat. They met, were married in 1948 and were happy together until her death in 1993. They had a son, Felix Anthony Blanchard III, and his wife Karin of Hickory, NC, and daughters; Josephine Mills, husband Gary, and Mary Theresa Midkiff and husband Aaron, both of Bulverde, TX. There are seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Doc was a dedicated family man, a kind, humble, caring man and respected by those who knew him. He was a baptized and confirmed Catholic. Following Jody’s death in 1993, he enjoyed spending two weeks each fall and summer in South Carolina with his sister, Mary Hizabeth Blanchard, at Lake Marion, SC.
Among his numerous honors has been his induction into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame and the National Football Hall of Fame. In 2002 his hometown of Bishopville, SC, had a banquet where he was awarded the Order of The Palmetto, the highest award given to any South Carolinian. The town of Bishopville is now erecting a statue in his memory. A young boy thought that the figure of a young boy, the figure of a football player and the figure of an Air Force Pilot would be an inspiration. The U.S. Military Academy retired his jersey on 10 Oct 2009.
He and Joe Steffy, an all-American guard, remained devoted friends until Blanchard’s death. Joe is a great supporter of Army football. Doc died of pneumonia at his home in Bulverde, TX, on 19 Apr 2009, and was interred at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio.