WEBVTT 00:00:00.110 --> 00:00:02.549 If you want to learn more about the topics of 00:00:02.549 --> 00:00:06.230 today's episode, visit the podcast website at 00:00:06.230 --> 00:00:09.349 naturessecretservice .com. Thanks for listening. 00:00:33.609 --> 00:00:37.829 Okay, people, listen up. Here we go. This is 00:00:37.829 --> 00:00:41.490 Nature's Secret Service. I'm your host, Ed Newcomer, 00:00:41.609 --> 00:00:44.210 and you're about to join me as we go back in 00:00:44.210 --> 00:00:49.070 time to March 1962 and join U .S. Fish and Wildlife 00:00:49.070 --> 00:00:52.909 Service Special Agent Vic Blasevic in the field 00:00:52.909 --> 00:00:56.130 to experience every law enforcement officer's 00:00:56.130 --> 00:01:01.530 worst nightmare, an ambush. Who was Special Agent 00:01:01.530 --> 00:01:05.379 Vic Blasevic? Well, I met Vic by telephone in 00:01:05.379 --> 00:01:09.840 2005. Back then, I was a fairly new special agent 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:12.599 myself. I was all bright -eyed and bushy -tailed. 00:01:13.019 --> 00:01:15.159 And I just called him out of the blue, and I 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:19.319 asked him to tell me the story. Aside from that 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:23.400 call, I didn't really know Vic. And unfortunately, 00:01:23.739 --> 00:01:27.019 he's no longer with us. Okay, so in telling the 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:29.420 Vic story, I thought it would be a great idea 00:01:29.420 --> 00:01:32.180 to reach out to somebody who actually knew him. 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:36.700 So I'm very happy to welcome retired special 00:01:36.700 --> 00:01:39.900 agent Jerry Smith to the podcast because Jerry 00:01:39.900 --> 00:01:43.280 knew Vic Blasovic. Jerry, thanks so much for 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:45.959 coming on the podcast. I really appreciate it. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:53.019 Yeah, my pleasure. Go ahead no no i let's listen 00:01:53.019 --> 00:01:56.040 first of all i want to say i you and i have never 00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:59.939 met prior to this podcast but i know of you because 00:01:59.939 --> 00:02:03.079 of course you know. The mission wildlife service 00:02:03.079 --> 00:02:05.200 fairly small and so we always hear about other 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.500 people But I always heard good big great things 00:02:07.500 --> 00:02:09.960 about you and I know of you because you have 00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:13.240 been instrumental in kind of organizing retired 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:15.319 special agents to kind of keep in touch with 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:18.400 each other and Before we started recording today. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:20.240 You told me that you have been doing that for 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:24.099 over 29 years Keeping the retirees together and 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:27.340 I got to tell you as a new retiree recently retired 00:02:27.340 --> 00:02:30.020 guy I really appreciate that. I mean, it's so 00:02:30.020 --> 00:02:33.139 great to, it's hard to leave the agency because 00:02:33.139 --> 00:02:36.300 we loved our jobs, right? But it's so great to 00:02:36.300 --> 00:02:38.939 leave and know I still have a connection not 00:02:38.939 --> 00:02:42.159 only to people I worked with, but great people, 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:45.219 you know, historical, people who have historical 00:02:45.219 --> 00:02:48.300 knowledge, institutional memory, that now I can 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:51.979 get to know as a retiree and share stories and 00:02:51.979 --> 00:02:54.740 reminiscence. So thank you for doing that, first 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:59.310 of all. You're welcome. It's been a pleasure 00:02:59.310 --> 00:03:04.169 and of course, as you said, we had the best job 00:03:04.169 --> 00:03:08.370 in the entire world. I never once went to work 00:03:08.370 --> 00:03:14.830 on Monday looking for Friday. To me, that says 00:03:14.830 --> 00:03:19.129 the most about any job. If you have that type 00:03:19.129 --> 00:03:26.370 of a job that you can't get enough of it. I started 00:03:26.370 --> 00:03:32.680 in 1968 in South Texas, right on the border. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.759 As a kid from North Dakota, that was quite a 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:45.479 change. Then I migrated to the east. I told my 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:48.580 wife I was never going to go east of the Mississippi, 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:52.360 but I spent most of my career east of the Mississippi. 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:56.240 I went to Washington as a trainee, and that's 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:59.560 where I met Vic Blasvik. So what can you tell 00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:01.840 us about Vic in terms of what he was like as 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.539 a person and as an agent? Tell us a little bit 00:04:04.539 --> 00:04:06.219 about Vic Blasvik. Now you knew him. How'd you 00:04:06.219 --> 00:04:09.300 know Vic? Well, like I said, I first first met 00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:12.599 him when I was in that training position and 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:20.100 he was the agent in charge in Chicago. And then 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:25.220 after that, We changed names in 74 to senior 00:04:25.220 --> 00:04:32.439 resident agents. And so anyway, then we always 00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:36.839 kidded Vic. He moved to Washington as the chief 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:40.279 branch of investigations and Washington office. 00:04:40.459 --> 00:04:45.540 And we kidded Vic up until the last time I saw 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:48.939 him. And I'll talk about that a bit. But he is 00:04:48.939 --> 00:04:53.420 the only agent. that came to the headquarters 00:04:53.420 --> 00:05:04.800 office by accident. Vic was a real good agent, 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:09.620 but he was a great driver. And in Chicago, I 00:05:09.620 --> 00:05:14.319 think what it was is that he used to be a state 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:19.899 game warden in Minnesota. Uh, uh, then he was 00:05:19.899 --> 00:05:23.699 in Illinois and he wasn't used to the big city. 00:05:24.519 --> 00:05:28.199 And, uh, I can understand that having been in 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:32.819 New York, uh, but he had one accident and, you 00:05:32.819 --> 00:05:36.180 know, uh, that was his fault. And that, that 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:39.680 was kind of set aside and everything else. What 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:41.819 do you mean? Like a car, like a car or a car 00:05:41.819 --> 00:05:45.600 accident? Okay. But then he had a second car 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:50.189 accident. And they took away his driver's license, 00:05:51.110 --> 00:05:55.009 his government driver's license. So an agent 00:05:55.009 --> 00:06:01.129 without being able to drive is kind of sitting 00:06:01.129 --> 00:06:05.529 on the limb and they're sawed at off. So they 00:06:05.529 --> 00:06:08.000 found another position for him. And that was 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:10.600 in Washington. And so they moved him to Washington 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:14.519 as the chief branch of investigations. And he 00:06:14.519 --> 00:06:18.199 was the only one came there by accident. I love 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:20.660 it. I love it. And what a, what a character, 00:06:20.740 --> 00:06:24.000 huh? He's an agent for the U S government. He's 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.819 such a bad driver. He loses his driver. That's 00:06:28.819 --> 00:06:35.589 pretty funny. Anyway. Then when I was in New 00:06:35.589 --> 00:06:37.569 York, I was up there for five years and they 00:06:37.569 --> 00:06:42.089 had another reorganization and they were eliminating 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:48.430 positions. And so Clark Mayven, the chief, opened 00:06:48.430 --> 00:06:53.610 up the position of deputy chief. And I was selected. 00:06:53.970 --> 00:06:57.430 And so I moved out. And as you're probably aware, 00:06:57.610 --> 00:07:01.870 when you are selected, you have a deadline to 00:07:01.870 --> 00:07:05.079 get there. And so we put our house up for sale 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:09.879 and it obviously didn't sell right away. So I 00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:15.079 had to be in Washington for my new job when my 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:19.500 family was still outside of New York City. So 00:07:19.500 --> 00:07:23.040 I contacted Vic. I knew he had retired and was 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:27.779 still living in Fairfax. And he said, oh, yeah, 00:07:27.899 --> 00:07:32.120 come on down here. Vic was just a very funny 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:37.519 guy, but he was just a, some stranger talks to 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:41.639 him, they think he's a grouchy old man. That's 00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:46.579 the way he, but he had a heart of gold. He really 00:07:46.579 --> 00:07:49.819 did. And he was quite intelligent and funny. 00:07:50.579 --> 00:07:54.040 He had a real dry wit about him. But anyway, 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:56.100 he says, come on down. I've got plenty of room. 00:07:56.920 --> 00:08:00.500 So I went down there and asked him about how 00:08:00.500 --> 00:08:05.120 much. Do you want for me to live here for?" I 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:08.379 said, I'm not sure how long. Eh, nothing, no 00:08:08.379 --> 00:08:15.060 problem. So anyway, about the first part of September, 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:21.540 1982, I moved in with Vic Blasvik and his house 00:08:21.540 --> 00:08:27.040 in Fairfax. And I lived with him until it was 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:30.899 probably early December. of 82 when we finally 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:35.019 got our household and I moved my family down. 00:08:36.419 --> 00:08:40.700 But living with Vic was quite an experience. 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:46.620 After he retired, he became a beekeeper. I knew 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:49.240 he was into bees, but he was actually a beekeeper. 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:56.620 He actually was. He was also very, very eccentric. 00:08:58.110 --> 00:09:02.409 Like houses give me an example. Okay I've got 00:09:02.409 --> 00:09:05.950 two or three of them. Okay. One is that when 00:09:05.950 --> 00:09:10.490 he bought that house and moved in He was still 00:09:10.490 --> 00:09:14.230 married and then that didn't that didn't work 00:09:14.230 --> 00:09:18.230 out And so anyway, they had this big house, but 00:09:18.230 --> 00:09:21.309 he didn't have a place for his separator for 00:09:21.309 --> 00:09:26.230 his his beat, you know the Honey you put homes 00:09:26.230 --> 00:09:29.840 in and it separates it into honey. So they had 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:32.919 a place on his kitchen table and that's where 00:09:32.919 --> 00:09:35.480 he sat his separator right in the middle of the 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:39.259 kitchen table. So when we ate lunches or dinners 00:09:39.259 --> 00:09:42.480 or whatever it was, we sat around the separator. 00:09:43.240 --> 00:09:44.820 That might have something to do with why he got 00:09:44.820 --> 00:09:50.179 divorced. That could very well be. Now, he also, 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:55.840 he didn't believe in wasting any money. So he 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:03.519 kept the house quite cold. And in Virginia, in 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:09.220 October, November, it gets pretty chilly. So 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:12.179 darn cold, but he said, well, I'll just give 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:16.980 you extra blankets. That's what he did. And then 00:10:16.980 --> 00:10:22.889 another thing, he hit up. Small microwave. I 00:10:22.889 --> 00:10:27.429 don't know what it's about like that. After every 00:10:27.429 --> 00:10:34.269 use, he would unplug it. I said, Vic, why are 00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:38.190 you unplugging the microwave after you use it? 00:10:39.350 --> 00:10:43.049 Well, he says, even off, it uses some electricity 00:10:43.049 --> 00:10:47.909 and I'm going to save on electricity. How much? 00:10:49.129 --> 00:10:52.850 Electricity, but a microwave used being off. 00:10:55.009 --> 00:10:59.409 You know, that was that was that was Rick and 00:10:59.409 --> 00:11:05.230 he was he got around a lot and for selling his 00:11:05.230 --> 00:11:09.009 honey. And I went I went out with him to work 00:11:09.009 --> 00:11:11.889 on the bees where he collected the combs and 00:11:11.889 --> 00:11:17.330 everything else. And I didn't do much with him. 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:22.259 delivering the honey. Except one day, it was 00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:26.000 in November, I was in the office and Vic gave 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:30.279 me a call. They said, Jerry, I'm going to be 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:36.379 downtown D .C. late this evening to deliver some 00:11:36.379 --> 00:11:38.659 honey. Do you want to join me? And then I'll 00:11:38.659 --> 00:11:41.220 give you a ride home because I was taking the 00:11:41.220 --> 00:11:44.940 subway, the metro and things like that. He knew 00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:47.960 that. So I said, oh, sure, Vic, where do you 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:52.100 want me to meet you? He says, well, meet me at 00:11:52.100 --> 00:11:54.139 the old executive office building, because we're 00:11:54.139 --> 00:11:56.679 going to the White House. He's delivering honey 00:11:56.679 --> 00:11:59.539 to the White House. So I said, oh, all right, 00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:02.580 Vic. So I met him, I don't know, like five thirty, 00:12:02.779 --> 00:12:04.820 six o 'clock, something like that. I was just 00:12:04.820 --> 00:12:07.519 getting ready to go home anyway. So I met him 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:09.919 there and we went down in the basement. The basement 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.779 of the old executive office building is where 00:12:12.779 --> 00:12:15.679 you enter the tunnel. going to the White House. 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:22.139 But they had the police there stopping, you know, 00:12:22.779 --> 00:12:26.480 the Capitol Police. And so I was still packing. 00:12:26.940 --> 00:12:31.279 So I had to leave my gun. They gave us, you know, 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:34.879 tags, name tags and things like that. And we 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:36.840 went through the tunnel and got up and we were 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:41.019 waiting in kind of a waiting room with things. 00:12:41.179 --> 00:12:45.309 And there was probably four or five guards. around 00:12:45.309 --> 00:12:48.190 there. And one of the guards came over and started 00:12:48.190 --> 00:12:51.549 talking to me and just chatting, chit -chatting 00:12:51.549 --> 00:12:54.269 about, I can't even remember what, but it was 00:12:54.269 --> 00:12:58.889 probably just about normal. And then this guy 00:12:58.889 --> 00:13:05.409 came in and introduced himself to me as Morton 00:13:05.409 --> 00:13:08.690 Blackwell. And he was a special assistant to 00:13:08.690 --> 00:13:12.710 President Reagan. And he was one of the customers 00:13:12.710 --> 00:13:18.389 of Vic. No kidding. How Vic ever got to him as 00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:21.870 a customer, I don't know. But first thing he 00:13:21.870 --> 00:13:24.470 did after shaking hands with Vic and introducing 00:13:24.470 --> 00:13:29.070 himself to me, he says, well, who are you? I 00:13:29.070 --> 00:13:34.909 said, well, I've been here for over two years 00:13:34.909 --> 00:13:38.570 and I've never seen those guards talk to anybody. 00:13:38.909 --> 00:13:41.330 They don't talk to me, but then they were talking 00:13:41.330 --> 00:13:44.750 to you. That's probably because I'm a law enforcement 00:13:44.750 --> 00:13:47.250 officer. Oh, well, that probably could be. But 00:13:47.250 --> 00:13:52.730 anyway, Vic delivered the honey. And then Mr. 00:13:53.009 --> 00:13:55.970 Blackwell said, well, do you want a tour of the 00:13:55.970 --> 00:13:58.809 White House? Yes. Well, yeah. So he took us to 00:13:58.809 --> 00:14:02.070 the Oval Office. And so he must have been pretty 00:14:02.070 --> 00:14:08.720 high. high up as a special assistant to Reagan. 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:13.340 So we had a real good time. Interesting scene, 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:17.000 the White House and some of the other special 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:19.580 rooms there that the average tourist doesn't 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:23.240 get. But that's the kind of person that Bick 00:14:23.240 --> 00:14:30.460 was. He sounded very grouchy and everything else, 00:14:30.580 --> 00:14:36.960 but he hit that. and about him that he can just 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.779 get get together with anybody. I mean, and I 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:45.279 was a special assistant to the president. That's 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.200 maybe that proves the old adage that if you want 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:48.940 to get to know, you know, important people, you 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:53.580 should use honey sweets. If you ever thought 00:14:53.580 --> 00:14:56.240 it's important people use honey. I never thought 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:59.080 of that. You know what I thought of when you 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:01.059 were telling these stories, Jerry, I thought, 00:15:01.179 --> 00:15:05.019 you know, Maybe the reason that the separator 00:15:05.019 --> 00:15:07.080 was on the table and maybe the reason he kept 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:09.559 it so cold and maybe the reason he unplugged 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:12.659 the microwave was to make sure you didn't stay 00:15:12.659 --> 00:15:19.559 too long. That could be, but with Vic, I doubt 00:15:19.559 --> 00:15:25.080 that. The last time I saw Vic was after I retired 00:15:25.080 --> 00:15:33.259 in 94 and then we went with some of the get -togethers 00:15:33.259 --> 00:15:37.539 for the Region 4, like I already mentioned. One 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:41.320 of them was in Asheville, North Carolina. I called 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:43.960 Vic and asked him, I said, well, why don't you 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:47.980 come on down? Because he knew some of the older 00:15:47.980 --> 00:15:53.279 agents there from Region 4. Like we usually do, 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:56.179 it's usually about a two -day affair and just 00:15:56.179 --> 00:15:59.740 mostly visiting and things like that. We were 00:15:59.740 --> 00:16:03.769 just about ready to Go home. And the late one, 00:16:03.789 --> 00:16:06.509 it was the last evening, just before dinner, 00:16:06.809 --> 00:16:11.549 here came this old pickup that Vic had. Then 00:16:11.549 --> 00:16:15.210 pulled up, they all came, Lazarick, and he came 00:16:15.210 --> 00:16:18.570 in, said, oh, I'm a thing. And they chatted for 00:16:18.570 --> 00:16:23.049 probably 15, 20 minutes. They said, well, goodbye. 00:16:23.850 --> 00:16:28.029 Got to go. They got this pickup head and go home 00:16:28.029 --> 00:16:30.740 again. Oh, he sounds like a character. I love 00:16:30.740 --> 00:16:35.840 it. Oh, yeah. I love it. I do not know anybody 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:40.759 who ever knew Vic and didn't like him. Yeah. 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:44.419 And you wouldn't you wouldn't know it like, say, 00:16:44.419 --> 00:16:51.399 oh, I know it was that type of guy. But it didn't 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:55.679 take long to know what his heart was all about. 00:16:55.860 --> 00:17:00.490 Yeah. He was all about. Love and things like 00:17:00.490 --> 00:17:04.869 that. But I really, really missed it. Well, it's 00:17:04.869 --> 00:17:07.589 so awesome to hear kind of a little bit about 00:17:07.589 --> 00:17:10.210 his personality and your relationship with him 00:17:10.210 --> 00:17:12.990 in the background, because, you know, when I 00:17:12.990 --> 00:17:15.269 reached out to him to ask him to tell me the 00:17:15.269 --> 00:17:20.490 story of his shooting, you know, I heard that 00:17:20.490 --> 00:17:22.490 gruffness in his voice, but he couldn't have 00:17:22.490 --> 00:17:25.359 been more. Open to me and welcoming. He didn't 00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:29.339 know me. I was just a new agent, you know somebody 00:17:29.339 --> 00:17:33.440 he'd seen a million of before and You know, he 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:35.579 spent time with me on the phone to tell me the 00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:39.160 story about how he was ambushed by poachers in 00:17:39.160 --> 00:17:43.099 Illinois in 1962 and I was just astonished by 00:17:43.099 --> 00:17:47.319 the whole story that his tenacity and his his 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:49.900 ability to kind of push through that and save 00:17:49.900 --> 00:17:54.380 himself really from being killed. Did he ever 00:17:54.380 --> 00:17:56.859 talk to you about that incident or did he keep 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:58.319 quiet about it? Was he one of these guys that 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:01.500 was so stoic he didn't talk about it? Yeah, he 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:04.279 never talked about it. I know we had pictures 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:08.579 of him blowing up pictures of him with the shot 00:18:08.579 --> 00:18:12.740 in the face and all of the BB holes and things 00:18:12.740 --> 00:18:18.619 like that. But I do not remember talking to him. 00:18:18.670 --> 00:18:24.069 about it in depth or anything like that. It wasn't 00:18:24.069 --> 00:18:28.970 something that was on his mind constantly. Yeah, 00:18:29.069 --> 00:18:31.569 which is amazing, which is amazing. I mean, considering 00:18:31.569 --> 00:18:33.289 what happened to him, like you said, he's shot 00:18:33.289 --> 00:18:38.390 in the face. You know, I think, would you like 00:18:38.390 --> 00:18:40.109 to hear the story about what happened to him? 00:18:40.309 --> 00:18:42.839 Because I'll tell you. Yeah, I'd love to. So 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:45.140 let me, let me do that. I'm going to make you 00:18:45.140 --> 00:18:46.519 wait though. I'm going to make you listen to 00:18:46.519 --> 00:18:51.039 the podcast to hear it. Let me tell you the one 00:18:51.039 --> 00:18:53.420 thing I'll leave you with this. Uh, and I think 00:18:53.420 --> 00:18:56.980 it will resonate with you as that's Vic, um, 00:18:56.980 --> 00:19:00.160 in, in doing my research for telling the story, 00:19:00.259 --> 00:19:03.960 I also looked for old documents related to it. 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:06.160 And I found a few memos that went through headquarters. 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:09.819 So you probably saw them. Um, but well, no, maybe 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:11.930 you wouldn't cause it would have been Earlier 00:19:11.930 --> 00:19:13.289 in your career and you wouldn't have been at 00:19:13.289 --> 00:19:15.289 headquarters, but there was some memos that went 00:19:15.289 --> 00:19:19.130 back and forth. And while Vic was still recovering 00:19:19.130 --> 00:19:22.049 after being shot at basically point blank range 00:19:22.049 --> 00:19:26.569 with a shotgun, um, he was mad because they weren't 00:19:26.569 --> 00:19:29.829 going to let him go up to do the annual waterfowl 00:19:29.829 --> 00:19:34.230 count. He wanted to be back out in the field 00:19:34.230 --> 00:19:38.450 working as an agent. And I think that says everything 00:19:38.450 --> 00:19:42.559 about him personally. but also his dedication 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:46.960 to our mission and our job. And I'm sure you'll 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:49.319 agree, most of the agents in the service share 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:52.240 that kind of attitude. It's certainly the best 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:57.200 agents share that attitude. But listen, Jerry, 00:19:57.420 --> 00:19:59.339 I can't thank you enough for coming on just to 00:19:59.339 --> 00:20:01.259 talk about Vic and a little bit about your career. 00:20:01.420 --> 00:20:04.859 You will be back as a guest because I know you 00:20:04.859 --> 00:20:07.200 are loaded with great stories about the service. 00:20:08.210 --> 00:20:10.630 And maybe you can add some context to some of 00:20:10.630 --> 00:20:13.890 our other stories, such as Marie Paladini's involvement 00:20:13.890 --> 00:20:16.210 in that alligator case. But thank you so much 00:20:16.210 --> 00:20:17.970 for your time today. I really appreciate it. 00:20:17.970 --> 00:20:20.369 Now let's move on and let's tell this story about 00:20:20.369 --> 00:20:27.150 Vic Blasevik getting ambushed in 1962. The story 00:20:27.150 --> 00:20:30.789 you're about to hear is true. It was personally 00:20:30.789 --> 00:20:33.970 told to me by Special Agent Vic Blasevik years 00:20:33.970 --> 00:20:38.720 after he retired from the service. It's spring 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:42.880 1962 in southern, Illinois an area known in the 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:47.539 United States as the corn belt Imagine barren 00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:51.859 soggy farm fields as far as the eye can see All 00:20:51.859 --> 00:20:54.900 or most of the corn has been harvested and these 00:20:54.900 --> 00:20:57.740 are open fields with trace corn kernels strewn 00:20:57.740 --> 00:21:01.480 about They make the perfect stopover point for 00:21:01.480 --> 00:21:04.339 ducks as they migrate from south to north along 00:21:04.339 --> 00:21:07.759 the central flyway a major migratory route for 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:12.059 all types of birds, including ducks and geese. 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:16.599 It's early March. U .S. Fish and Wildlife Service 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:19.819 Special Agent Vic Blasevic, an irascible and 00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:23.019 dedicated federal wildlife agent, receives a 00:21:23.019 --> 00:21:25.880 tip that around the small town of Quincy, Illinois, 00:21:26.460 --> 00:21:28.759 poachers are lurking through the empty corn fields 00:21:28.759 --> 00:21:33.509 at night to kill migratory ducks. Vic knows that 00:21:33.509 --> 00:21:37.230 this is a violation of federal law. The Migratory 00:21:37.230 --> 00:21:39.490 Bird Treaty Act prohibits the taking of wild 00:21:39.490 --> 00:21:42.430 ducks except during highly regulated hunting 00:21:42.430 --> 00:21:45.750 seasons. There is no hunting season for ducks 00:21:45.750 --> 00:21:49.589 in the springtime. Knowing it's dangerous to 00:21:49.589 --> 00:21:51.450 work at night when you're in law enforcement, 00:21:52.049 --> 00:21:55.069 Vic teams up with Calvin Lear, a local Illinois 00:21:55.069 --> 00:21:57.589 State game warden who he's worked with before 00:21:57.589 --> 00:22:01.170 and who he trusts. They plan to go into the fields 00:22:01.170 --> 00:22:07.210 to find and apprehend these poachers. Both law 00:22:07.210 --> 00:22:09.890 enforcement officers are armed. Vic is wearing 00:22:09.890 --> 00:22:12.049 hip boots and carries a Smith & Wesson Model 00:22:12.049 --> 00:22:15.410 60 .38 caliber revolver in a shoulder holster. 00:22:16.730 --> 00:22:21.269 It's just after sunset on March 18th, 1962. You 00:22:21.269 --> 00:22:23.589 can imagine the air is brisk. There's like a 00:22:23.589 --> 00:22:25.670 three -quarter moon just rising in the east. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:28.700 Both these men carry flashlights, but they aren't 00:22:28.700 --> 00:22:30.660 going to use them. They don't want to give away 00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:34.140 their presents. It's cold that day, about 30 00:22:34.140 --> 00:22:37.440 degrees Fahrenheit. Gunshots echo in the distance, 00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:40.440 close but too far away to identify the shooters 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:43.759 or where they're located. Vic and his partner 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:46.079 immediately recognize the sounds of 12 gauge 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:49.519 shotguns. The kind of guns used by duck hunters 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:53.640 and duck poachers. Moving more carefully now, 00:22:53.799 --> 00:22:55.640 Vic and his partner move toward the sound of 00:22:55.640 --> 00:23:00.160 the shots. Three more shots ring out. They're 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:05.819 closer. They're way closer now. Both men drop 00:23:05.819 --> 00:23:08.700 into a crouch and they wait and they listen. 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:11.839 They scan the horizon with their binoculars, 00:23:11.859 --> 00:23:16.019 trying to make out shapes in the dark. Vic believes 00:23:16.019 --> 00:23:18.819 he knows where the poachers are located, using 00:23:18.819 --> 00:23:21.980 his binoculars. He sees the silhouettes of two 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:25.180 men at the edge of a slough moving toward an 00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:29.720 unharvested stand of corn. He and his game warden 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:32.980 partner split up. The plan is for Vic to pursue 00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:35.440 the poachers while the warden cuts off their 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:40.339 escape. Moving quickly now, Vic continued to 00:23:40.339 --> 00:23:42.700 use his binoculars to keep an eye on the escaping 00:23:42.700 --> 00:23:46.400 poachers. They emerged from the standing cornfield 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.549 into a harvested cornfield. heading away now 00:23:49.549 --> 00:23:53.109 from where the game warden was waiting. Vic immediately 00:23:53.109 --> 00:23:55.309 moved toward them, practically running now with 00:23:55.309 --> 00:23:58.849 his binoculars pressed to his eyes. He sees one 00:23:58.849 --> 00:24:01.289 of the poachers drop into a crouch, as if trying 00:24:01.289 --> 00:24:03.690 to hide within the corn debris on the ground. 00:24:04.910 --> 00:24:07.589 The other poacher continued to run. Vic moved 00:24:07.589 --> 00:24:11.849 directly toward the crouching poacher. The binoculars 00:24:11.849 --> 00:24:14.329 screwed up my depth perception, said Vic when 00:24:14.329 --> 00:24:17.930 he told me this story back in 2005. I'd gotten 00:24:17.930 --> 00:24:22.869 too close to them too quickly. Suddenly, Vic 00:24:22.869 --> 00:24:26.049 heard a shot. He felt a sting on his left thumb 00:24:26.049 --> 00:24:29.569 and something heavy hit his chest. Realizing 00:24:29.569 --> 00:24:32.430 he'd been shot, he turned and yelled out to warn 00:24:32.430 --> 00:24:35.809 his partner, Warden Lair. His night vision was 00:24:35.809 --> 00:24:38.630 now gone from the flash of the first shot, but 00:24:38.630 --> 00:24:40.670 he turned back to locate his assailant drawing 00:24:40.670 --> 00:24:45.140 his pistol as he turned. Vic sees the flames 00:24:45.140 --> 00:24:47.380 shooting from the end of a shotgun at close range 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:50.700 and hears the sound of the shot He goes down 00:24:50.700 --> 00:24:53.900 on his back his pistols hit by the blast of pellets 00:24:53.900 --> 00:24:57.700 and knocked from his hand He never returns fire 00:24:57.700 --> 00:25:01.099 Nearly unconscious Vic has no idea where the 00:25:01.099 --> 00:25:04.240 poachers are or if they're going to shoot again 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.880 Vic lay on his back in the mud listening waiting 00:25:09.609 --> 00:25:12.289 He can hear a pulsing noise in his head and he 00:25:12.289 --> 00:25:16.349 can feel blood spurting from his neck It's 1962. 00:25:16.930 --> 00:25:20.789 He has no portable radio He's on his own and 00:25:20.789 --> 00:25:23.470 he realizes that if he's going to live he's gonna 00:25:23.470 --> 00:25:28.009 have to save himself His survival instincts set 00:25:28.009 --> 00:25:30.609 in and he found the strength and courage to get 00:25:30.609 --> 00:25:34.769 up find his pistol and head toward the road He 00:25:34.769 --> 00:25:37.809 knew he was hurt bad The vision in one eye was 00:25:37.809 --> 00:25:40.390 so blurry that he couldn't use it. He covered 00:25:40.390 --> 00:25:42.529 it with his left hand and held his pistol in 00:25:42.529 --> 00:25:45.390 his right hand. He started walking across the 00:25:45.390 --> 00:25:47.710 cornfield in the direction he believed might 00:25:47.710 --> 00:25:50.210 take him to his partner, the Illinois State Game 00:25:50.210 --> 00:25:52.869 Warden. The warden had heard those shots followed 00:25:52.869 --> 00:25:56.089 by loud and excited voices. He knew that something 00:25:56.089 --> 00:25:58.490 had happened and he headed in the direction he 00:25:58.490 --> 00:26:01.569 hoped would take him to Vic. As he swept his 00:26:01.569 --> 00:26:04.250 flashlight across the cornfield, gun in hand, 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:06.819 the warden saw a blood -covered figure moving 00:26:06.819 --> 00:26:10.680 toward him. It was Vic. The warden helped Vic 00:26:10.680 --> 00:26:13.299 back to the warden's patrol vehicle, and with 00:26:13.299 --> 00:26:16.680 lights, flashing sirens blaring, they raced to 00:26:16.680 --> 00:26:19.000 the nearest hospital in Pittsfield, Illinois. 00:26:20.519 --> 00:26:22.940 Ironically, they had a flat tire on the way, 00:26:23.380 --> 00:26:26.119 and ended up having to wave down a passing motorist, 00:26:26.259 --> 00:26:27.839 who then drove them the rest of the way to the 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:32.000 hospital. The doctors in Pittsfield saw that 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:34.730 Vic had been shot in the face, eyes and neck. 00:26:35.210 --> 00:26:38.569 He was bleeding badly. He needed more sophisticated 00:26:38.569 --> 00:26:42.170 medical care than they could provide. Once they 00:26:42.170 --> 00:26:44.670 had him stabilized, they transferred Vic by ambulance 00:26:44.670 --> 00:26:48.430 to the hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois. There, 00:26:48.910 --> 00:26:51.130 surgeons spent long hours removing pellets from 00:26:51.130 --> 00:26:54.210 Vic's head and neck. They couldn't safely get 00:26:54.210 --> 00:26:58.630 all of them. I was struck by about 50 pellets, 00:26:58.809 --> 00:27:01.170 said Vic in an official report he later filed 00:27:01.170 --> 00:27:04.100 with the U .S. Fish and Wildlife Service. About 00:27:04.100 --> 00:27:07.299 15 are still in my head and chest, and one is 00:27:07.299 --> 00:27:11.339 still lodged in my thumb. Two pellets were behind 00:27:11.339 --> 00:27:13.960 his left eye, and one lodged in the muscle of 00:27:13.960 --> 00:27:17.039 his right eye. The pellets that entered his left 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:19.880 eye bounced off the orbital bones and perforated 00:27:19.880 --> 00:27:22.619 his retina, causing considerable hemorrhaging. 00:27:23.700 --> 00:27:26.380 Fortunately for Vic, advances in the use of lasers 00:27:26.380 --> 00:27:29.000 in eye surgery allowed specialists to successfully 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:33.839 repair his retina. Assaulting a federal agent 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:37.759 is no joke. Remember, this happened in Illinois 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:42.099 in 1962. Just 30 years earlier, famous federal 00:27:42.099 --> 00:27:44.980 agents like Elliot Ness and Melvin Purvis were 00:27:44.980 --> 00:27:47.500 working in Illinois to capture equally infamous 00:27:47.500 --> 00:27:50.740 killers like Al Capone, John Dillinger, Pretty 00:27:50.740 --> 00:27:54.579 Boy Floyd, and Babyface Nelson. When someone 00:27:54.579 --> 00:27:57.980 goes after a Fed, the entire federal law enforcement 00:27:57.980 --> 00:28:01.890 apparatus is brought to bear. FBI agents from 00:28:01.890 --> 00:28:04.029 the Chicago field office were dispatched to the 00:28:04.029 --> 00:28:06.970 area in search of the attackers. There really 00:28:06.970 --> 00:28:09.910 were no leads, but word got out a federal agent 00:28:09.910 --> 00:28:13.650 had been shot. A tip came into the FBI office 00:28:13.650 --> 00:28:16.210 that led them to a farm near where the ambush 00:28:16.210 --> 00:28:19.769 and shooting occurred. There they interviewed 00:28:19.769 --> 00:28:22.569 49 -year -old Hubert Motley and his 24 -year 00:28:22.569 --> 00:28:25.410 -old nephew Robert Eugene Motley and the truth 00:28:25.410 --> 00:28:29.950 was quickly exposed. The shotgun was found concealed 00:28:29.950 --> 00:28:32.730 beneath the kitchen floorboards at Hubert Motley's 00:28:32.730 --> 00:28:35.970 farmhouse. It was a 12 gauge double -barreled 00:28:35.970 --> 00:28:38.450 shotgun capable of firing two shotgun rounds 00:28:38.450 --> 00:28:42.430 before reloading. Hubert Motley was identified 00:28:42.430 --> 00:28:44.650 as the shooter and was charged with assaulting 00:28:44.650 --> 00:28:48.210 a federal agent in the line of duty. Robert Eugene 00:28:48.210 --> 00:28:50.809 Motley was charged as an accessory to the assault, 00:28:51.329 --> 00:28:53.509 harboring a fugitive and obstructing justice 00:28:53.509 --> 00:28:56.250 by helping his uncle evade capture and to hide 00:28:56.250 --> 00:29:01.640 the shotgun. Both men were convicted. When I 00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:05.099 spoke to Vic in 2005, he said that he believed 00:29:05.099 --> 00:29:07.019 that both were sentenced to serve eight years 00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:09.819 in federal prison but served three before being 00:29:09.819 --> 00:29:13.519 released on parole. Although that's Vic's memory, 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:16.980 it's likely that Robert Eugene Motley would have 00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:19.440 received a slightly lighter sentence as an accessory, 00:29:19.480 --> 00:29:22.180 but I couldn't find any records related to his 00:29:22.180 --> 00:29:26.880 conviction and sentence. Vic believes that if 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:29.000 Hubert Motley had been armed with a pump -action 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:31.299 shotgun, which can hold more than two rounds, 00:29:31.740 --> 00:29:34.039 that he would have shot again and probably killed 00:29:34.039 --> 00:29:38.240 Vic. These guys were out poaching ducks. That's 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:40.200 an offense that would have likely landed them 00:29:40.200 --> 00:29:43.640 with a federal citation and nothing more. But 00:29:43.640 --> 00:29:46.819 poachers hate game ordnance, and sometimes that 00:29:46.819 --> 00:29:50.640 hatred turns deadly. It wasn't about ducks to 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:53.500 the Motley's, it was about their hatred of law 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:56.880 enforcement. If you're a conservation law enforcement 00:29:56.880 --> 00:30:00.359 officer or someday want to be one, never forget 00:30:00.359 --> 00:30:02.519 that you can get yourself killed over the most 00:30:02.519 --> 00:30:06.400 routine and minor violations of law. Stay alert. 00:30:07.099 --> 00:30:11.880 Be safe. The story of Vic's ambush doesn't end 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:14.339 here. I don't know what happened to Hubert Motley 00:30:14.339 --> 00:30:16.880 after he was released from federal prison, but 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:18.839 I do know what happened to his nephew, Robert 00:30:18.839 --> 00:30:22.799 Eugene Motley. Convicted as only an accessory 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:26.039 to the assault on Agent Blasevik, Robert Eugene 00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:28.779 Motley would go on to fulfill his wish to murder. 00:30:29.980 --> 00:30:33.539 In 1976, in an absurdly concocted plan to win 00:30:33.539 --> 00:30:35.640 back the affections of his ex -wife who'd left 00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:39.019 him, Motley placed several homemade bombs at 00:30:39.019 --> 00:30:41.640 the Quincy Compressor factory in Quincy, Illinois. 00:30:43.380 --> 00:30:45.640 Don't ask me why he thought that would work in 00:30:45.640 --> 00:30:48.789 getting his wife back. We know from his involvement 00:30:48.789 --> 00:30:51.109 in the attack on Agent Blasevic that Motley was 00:30:51.109 --> 00:30:52.950 not a man who spent much time thinking about 00:30:52.950 --> 00:30:56.230 the consequences of his actions. To build the 00:30:56.230 --> 00:30:59.490 bombs, Motley used dynamite he'd stolen earlier 00:30:59.490 --> 00:31:01.730 in the month from the Western Illinois Stone 00:31:01.730 --> 00:31:08.390 Company. On September 27th, 1976, U .S. Army 00:31:08.390 --> 00:31:10.750 demolition specialist Mike Vining and several 00:31:10.750 --> 00:31:14.269 of his U .S. Army colleagues were in Quincy attached 00:31:14.269 --> 00:31:17.049 to the U .S. Secret Service detail protecting 00:31:17.049 --> 00:31:20.490 then US Senator Bob Dole, who was in Illinois 00:31:20.490 --> 00:31:22.950 campaigning for the re -election of President 00:31:22.950 --> 00:31:27.250 Gerald Ford. Dole was Ford's pick for Vice President. 00:31:28.930 --> 00:31:32.250 The Army Demolitions Team was there in case any 00:31:32.250 --> 00:31:35.069 explosive devices were found at the various campaign 00:31:35.069 --> 00:31:38.670 events. With Dole's campaign events finished 00:31:38.670 --> 00:31:41.329 for the evening, the soldiers were enjoying a 00:31:41.329 --> 00:31:43.569 late meal when they heard a series of explosions 00:31:43.569 --> 00:31:49.359 in the distance. They returned to their hotel 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:51.359 and learned that the explosions had no connection 00:31:51.359 --> 00:31:55.759 to Senator Dole's presence in the area. The next 00:31:55.759 --> 00:31:58.119 morning, after Senator Dole's plane left the 00:31:58.119 --> 00:32:00.880 airfield, Vining and the rest of his team were 00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:03.420 asked by the local county sheriff to go to the 00:32:03.420 --> 00:32:05.380 scene of the bombings to provide their expert 00:32:05.380 --> 00:32:08.819 advice about the type of devices and detonation 00:32:08.819 --> 00:32:12.099 systems used. When they arrived at the Quincy 00:32:12.099 --> 00:32:15.029 Compressor facility, They were told that another 00:32:15.029 --> 00:32:17.869 unexploded device had been found on a truck trailer 00:32:17.869 --> 00:32:20.730 underneath a large industrial compressor ready 00:32:20.730 --> 00:32:24.109 for shipment. The device was placed in such a 00:32:24.109 --> 00:32:26.069 way that it could only be reached by walking 00:32:26.069 --> 00:32:29.809 between two truck trailers. The device consisted 00:32:29.809 --> 00:32:32.509 of six sticks of dynamite wired to an alarm clock 00:32:32.509 --> 00:32:37.369 and a six volt battery. One of Vining's colleagues, 00:32:37.769 --> 00:32:40.460 Sergeant Major Ken Foster, said that he would 00:32:40.460 --> 00:32:42.619 walk down between the two trailers to examine 00:32:42.619 --> 00:32:44.799 the device to determine the best way to defuse 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:48.180 it. He directed Vining to set up and organize 00:32:48.180 --> 00:32:50.920 the equipment they would need to defuse the bomb. 00:32:51.819 --> 00:32:54.180 Foster, accompanied by an Illinois state arson 00:32:54.180 --> 00:32:57.220 inspector, soon disappeared between the two trailers. 00:32:58.680 --> 00:33:01.759 Seconds later, a loud explosion rocked the area. 00:33:04.259 --> 00:33:06.779 The state arson inspector came staggering out 00:33:06.779 --> 00:33:09.930 of the smoke and debris cloud. his eardrums bleeding 00:33:09.930 --> 00:33:12.470 and ruptured, and he was temporarily blinded 00:33:12.470 --> 00:33:16.430 by the blast. As two of Vining's teammates assisted 00:33:16.430 --> 00:33:19.470 the arson inspector, Vining ran down between 00:33:19.470 --> 00:33:23.670 the trailers to find Foster's mangled body. Foster 00:33:23.670 --> 00:33:28.670 was killed instantly by the blast. A reward was 00:33:28.670 --> 00:33:31.250 offered, and Motley's ex -wife came forward with 00:33:31.250 --> 00:33:33.369 the information implicating him in the crime. 00:33:34.190 --> 00:33:37.170 A search warrant of Motley's home uncovered detailed 00:33:37.170 --> 00:33:38.990 schematics for the construction of the bombs. 00:33:39.829 --> 00:33:42.390 He was arrested and charged with murder and arson 00:33:42.390 --> 00:33:46.130 in Illinois State Court. His ex -wife declined 00:33:46.130 --> 00:33:49.230 to accept the reward and instead asked that it 00:33:49.230 --> 00:33:51.869 be given to Master Sergeant Ken Foster's family. 00:33:53.609 --> 00:33:55.769 Motley agreed to plead guilty in exchange for 00:33:55.769 --> 00:33:58.309 assurances that he would not be referred for 00:33:58.309 --> 00:34:00.630 federal charges related to the interstate transport 00:34:00.630 --> 00:34:03.869 of explosive devices, or for an unrelated deer 00:34:03.869 --> 00:34:06.569 poaching case in Missouri. What does that tell 00:34:06.569 --> 00:34:10.449 you? To me, it's clear that Motley was desperate 00:34:10.449 --> 00:34:12.869 to avoid the discovery of his previous conviction 00:34:12.869 --> 00:34:15.670 as an accessory to the assault on a federal officer. 00:34:16.829 --> 00:34:18.969 There is no mention of his previous record in 00:34:18.969 --> 00:34:21.030 the Illinois State Court sentencing documents, 00:34:21.489 --> 00:34:25.409 and given that this was the mid -1970s, there 00:34:25.409 --> 00:34:27.530 were likely no computer databases that would 00:34:27.530 --> 00:34:29.829 have made it easy for Illinois authorities to 00:34:29.829 --> 00:34:34.469 discover his prior federal conviction. On March 00:34:34.469 --> 00:34:38.369 1, 1977, Robert Eugene Motley was convicted of 00:34:38.369 --> 00:34:40.909 murder and sentenced to serve no less than 15 00:34:40.909 --> 00:34:45.449 and no more than 45 years in state prison. I 00:34:45.449 --> 00:34:47.789 don't know when Robert Eugene Motley was released 00:34:47.789 --> 00:34:50.570 from prison in Illinois, but I know that he died 00:34:50.570 --> 00:34:54.369 on December 4, 2021 at the age of 83 in Louisville, 00:34:54.550 --> 00:34:58.309 Kentucky. His obituary contains no mention of 00:34:58.309 --> 00:35:00.889 his violent past, but does mention that he was 00:35:00.889 --> 00:35:03.250 a member of the Beechwood Baptist Church and 00:35:03.250 --> 00:35:06.309 worked as a truck driver for the Roan Polink 00:35:06.309 --> 00:35:10.329 Transportation Company before he retired. I doubt 00:35:10.329 --> 00:35:14.889 he's missed. U .S. Army Demolition Specialist 00:35:14.889 --> 00:35:17.730 Mike Vining went on to join the U .S. Army's 00:35:17.730 --> 00:35:20.250 elite Delta Force, where he served with distinction, 00:35:20.889 --> 00:35:24.130 including as a surviving member of the 1979 attempted 00:35:24.130 --> 00:35:28.150 rescue of the U .S. hostages held in Iran. He 00:35:28.150 --> 00:35:30.389 retired from the U .S. Army as a Master Sergeant. 00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:34.599 U .S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent 00:35:34.599 --> 00:35:37.099 Vic Blazovich survived the attempt on his life 00:35:37.099 --> 00:35:40.739 and fully recovered from his wounds. Miraculously, 00:35:41.000 --> 00:35:43.539 his vision didn't suffer and he was able to continue 00:35:43.539 --> 00:35:46.800 his career as a special agent. He went on to 00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:49.159 serve as the special agent in charge of investigations 00:35:49.159 --> 00:35:50.980 at the Fish and Wildlife Service headquarters 00:35:50.980 --> 00:35:56.179 in Washington, D .C. and retired in 1978. He 00:35:56.179 --> 00:35:58.840 passed away from natural causes on August 18, 00:35:59.239 --> 00:36:03.920 2008. Everyone I talked to who knew Vic said 00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:06.699 that he was a dedicated hard -working agent who 00:36:06.699 --> 00:36:08.900 never talked about his near -death experience. 00:36:09.940 --> 00:36:12.400 Perhaps he was humble or perhaps he simply didn't 00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:14.179 want to think too much about how close he came 00:36:14.179 --> 00:36:17.699 to death at the hands of wannabe murderers. It's 00:36:17.699 --> 00:36:19.460 a shame really that he didn't talk more about 00:36:19.460 --> 00:36:22.260 it because it's the kind of story that new and 00:36:22.260 --> 00:36:24.519 existing US Fish and Wildlife Service agents 00:36:24.519 --> 00:36:28.559 should hear and take to heart. I'm glad I reached 00:36:28.559 --> 00:36:30.860 out to him in 2005 and convinced him to tell 00:36:30.860 --> 00:36:34.880 me the story in his own words. Vic's devotion 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:36.519 to the mission of the U .S. Fish and Wildlife 00:36:36.519 --> 00:36:39.820 Service and his love for his job can be seen 00:36:39.820 --> 00:36:43.780 by visiting his grave site. Embedded into his 00:36:43.780 --> 00:36:46.519 tombstone is the gold special agent badge from 00:36:46.519 --> 00:36:48.860 the credentials he once carried in his pocket. 00:36:49.639 --> 00:36:53.019 The same badge I carried and the same badge every 00:36:53.019 --> 00:36:55.099 current U .S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent 00:36:55.099 --> 00:37:01.860 carries to this day. Thanks for listening. Nature's 00:37:01.860 --> 00:37:03.880 Secret Service is written and produced by me, 00:37:04.039 --> 00:37:07.239 Ed Newcomer and is co -produced by the DHTV team 00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:09.679 here at California State University, Dominguez 00:37:09.679 --> 00:37:11.980 Hills. Follow us on social media and connect 00:37:11.980 --> 00:37:14.639 with us online at naturessecretservice .com