Benjamin F. Blount III 1922 — 2009: Losing one of the Greatest

Retired U.S. Army Col. Benjamin F. Blount III died Tuesday, four days shy of the 65th anniversary of the day he landed in Normandy with Allied troops. He was 87.

“Ben was one of Tom Brokaw’s ‘Greatest Generation,’” said Councilwoman Toni Iseman. “He always cared about this community and the people who live here. He had great warmth and presence and he never had to raise his voice.”

The soft-spoken 6-foot, 3 1/2 -inch Blount stood tall in stature and in deed.

His death will be mourned by a broad spectrum of the community, from veterans to environmentalists, but his life will be celebrated at a memorial service tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. June 12, at Monument Point in Heisler Park, the site of Memorial Day ceremonies, in which he participated for so long as an officer of the Laguna Beach Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5868.

A reception will be from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Laguna Beach Woman’s Club on St. Ann’s Drive.

“Ben was commander of the Laguna Beach post for six consecutive years and a total of eight years before he opted to pass the gavel to me two years ago,” Cmdr. Bill Kremmer said. “He was a great gentleman and a loyal individual — you could always count on Ben.

“He was a one-of-a-kind guy. What he went through the past couple of years was unbelievable — all those operations —but he always bounced back.

“The post is saddened, but he is in a better place.”

Blount was always a courageous man. He had fought cancer as valiantly as he fought the enemies of his country.

He joined the army in February 1943 as a buck private and worked his way up through the ranks with field commissions.

After getting basic and advanced training in Wyoming and Virginia, he was sent to England where he joined the 1st Engineer Special Brigade serving in amphibious logistical operations.

On his last leave before embarking for the Allied assault of Omaha Beach, the young soldier had the dubious distinction of being under one of history’s first cruise missile attacks when three Nazi V-1 “buzz bombs” exploded near him.

The Allied advance across France brought Blount to Belgium. He was sent to the newly liberated city of Charleroi in the southern part of the country, where the U.S Army established a large logistics base.

The base became the focus of a desperate Nazi offensive during the Battle of the Bulge when German paratroopers landed there in an attempt to cut off the Allies fuel supply line.

Rounding them up was the last combat action in which Blount participated, but only the beginning of one of Laguna’s great love stories.

It was in Charleroi that he met Gigi Sebille, whom he married in 1947. He called her his war souvenir, always accompanied by a special smile reserved just for her.

The couple were honored as the Patriots Day Parade Patriots of the Year in 1998. With such different backgrounds, they were destined by the war to meet.

Blount was born in 1922 in San Francisco and attended San Francisco City College before taking a job as a purchasing agent for the Department of Justice, where he worked until he enlisted and later posted to Belgium. His father was a professional soldier who served in five conflicts from the Spanish American War to World War I.

Gigi Blount’s father was a highly decorated veteran of World War I, during which Charleroi was overrun and occupied by German forces.

When the Germans invaded Belgium again in May 1940, the family tried to flee to England, but were thwarted in the attempt in Southern France.

The Sebilles returned home and Gigi Sebille started college.

Shortly afterward, she was approached by a Jesuit Priest who enlisted her in the Resistance, which she served for four years, until she and her sister were notified they were to be sent to German labor camps and taken into custody.

“Her mother, who spoke perfect formal German stomped down to the Nazi Headquarters and demanded their release — and got it,” said Mariann Penton, the Blounts’ youngest daughter. “It’s a great story.”

When the Americans headquartered at Chateroi University I 1944, Gigi got a job there, registering army personnel. One of them was Blount.

She invited him home for Sunday dinners during which he wooed Mme. Sebille and overcame her maternal misgivings about the romance.

After a field promotion and duty in Germany, he was ordered to the new European logistics center in Paris.

The couple came home to San Francisco in 1947 after Blount was released from active duty.

He went back to work for the Justice Department, but soon transferred to government jobs related to the armed forces and other agencies.

They lived in Palo Alto until moving to Long Beach, raising their four children.

In 1976, they moved to Laguna Beach, with which Gigi had fallen in love. Blount was on active behalf of the North Laguna neighborhood and environmental causes.

“He was a long time director of Laguna Greenbelt Inc. and a supporter of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy and the Laguna Canyon Foundation,” said Mary Fegraus.

The Blounts were among the participants in “The Walk,” which led to the city’s acquisitions in Laguna Canyon that had been slated for development.

“How could I ever forget that?” Gigi Blount said. “It’s a walk down memory lane.”

Blount continued his military career as a logistician with the Army reserve until he retired with the rank of colonel in 1982 with 39 years of service to his credit and several personal decorations.

Blount is survived by his wife; daughter Stash Blount of New York; daughter Colette Sani, her husband, Walter, and their son, Alssandro, of Oceanside; son William and his wife, Karol, and their daughter, Megan, of Fullerton; Mariann and Hugh Penton and their daughter, Arden, and son, Barret, of Encinitas; a sister, Helen Traynor, of Arizona; and a brother, John Blount of Oregon.

Floral remembrances may be sent or delivered to the Woman’s Club, 268 St. Ann’s Drive, Laguna Beach.

The Patriots Day Parade Committee, the Blount family and their friends, and the VFW graciously provided the information for this article.