A dedicated medical corpsman, Blanchett volunteered for front-line combat action in Vietnam instead of safer hospital duty. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division, when he was killed on March 7, 1967, near Dong Tam while running through heavy fire to help a wounded officer. The 19-year-old private first class was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. Blanchett had sung in his neighborhood church and attended Thomas Edison High School. He was engaged to be married when he entered the Army in November 1964. He was survived by his parents, four brothers and two sisters