User:Delmarh/Charles Albert Boswell

Charles Albert Boswell
Charley Boswell, (born Charles Albert Boswell; December 22, 1916 - October 22, 1995) was an American blind golfer who won 16 National and 11 International blind golf championships. He was also noted for his philanthropic work thru golf, especially his own tournament, The Charley Boswell Celebrity Classic. The tournament, which ran from 1974 thru 1988, raised over $1,200,000 for the Eye Foundation Hospital located in Birmingham Alabama. (December 22, 1916 – October 22, 1995) was an Alabama football player and a blind golf player who fought in World War II. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama. After graduating from Ensley High School in 1936, earning a football scholarship to attend the University of Alabama. He won a minor league baseball spot with the Atlanta Crackers in 1941, but was drafted into the United States Army. He was promoted to captain of the Third Battalion, 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division. During action, Boswell was attempting to rescue a wounded comrade from a burning Sherman tank when the tank exploded, leaving him permanently blinded. He took up golf during his rehabilitation and eventually placed second at the National Blind Golf Championship in 1946. He won the championship at the Northland Country Club in Duluth, Minnesota the following year. He subsequently won 16 national championships and 11 international championships over the span of his career. During his career, Boswell shot three hole in ones. He was inducted into the Alabama Hall of Fame in 1972.

Early Years
Boswell was born in Ensley, Alabama, the 2nd of 5 children. His father, Roscoe Boswell was a railroad worker and his mother, Ethel Harris was the homemaker of the family. After the obligatory household chores came sports, the neighborhood baseball or football pickup game. By high school, he was playing halfback in football, left field in baseball and running the dash in track. Charley obtained a full football athletic scholarship to the University of Alabama. Here he flourished in his sports. Not only did he hold the record for the longest punt average for 30 years, 43.2 yards, his team made it to the 1938 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California before his graduation in 1940. Despite his accolades in football, a baseball career was knocking on his door. But upon graduation, the draft for World War II forever changed his life.

World War II
That same year, however, the United States Army drafted Boswell and sent him to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. In November 1944, Captain Boswell was commanding the headquarters company of the Third Battalion, 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division November 30, 1944 as it battled near Lindern, Germany in the Battle of the Bulge. During a firefight with the town's German defenders, Boswell rushed to pull a wounded American soldier from a burning Sherman tank. During this attempt, the tank exploded in Boswell's face, throwing him clear of the vehicle but leaving him permanently blinded.

Evacuated to the United States, Boswell underwent rehabilitation at the Valley Forge General Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a U.S. Army facility that specialized in eye injuries and rehabilitation of sight-impaired soldiers. Despite his disability, Boswell still wanted to compete athletically. During his rehabilitation, he tried a number of sports. None satisfied his need to compete until, under the instruction of rehabilitation specialist Corporal Kenny Gleason, Boswell tried golf. Boswell had not played golf even when he could see and, according to his memoirs, he approached his first blind swing with skepticism. However, after Gleason helped him line up his stance, a 200-yard drive down the middle of the fairway convinced him otherwise.

Blind Golf

 * "One of the toughtest things I've ever had to do is talk to the newly blind or to people who are about to lose their vision. As I know full well, a person never wants to give up..." - Charles A. Boswell
 * 1974-1988 Host of 'Charlie Boswell Celebrity Classic' in support of the Eye Foundation Hospital
 * Hole-in-One 196?? hole #14 Vestavia Country Club
 * 'Charlie Boswell Wins Blind Golfers Classic 1958'

Accomplishments

 * 1956-1976 - President of the United States Blind Golf Association
 * 1971-1979 - Revenue Commissioner, State of Alabama
 * 1969 - Author "Now I See", reprinted 1987 and 1991
 * 1990 - 1995 - First Chairman of the Board, Hellen Keller Eye Research Foundation

Honors

 * 1949 Hero of the Year, National Disabled Veterans
 * 1956 Highlands Park Golf Course renamed Charley Boswell Golf Course
 * 1958 Ben Hogan Trophy, Golf Writers Assoc. of America
 * 1960 Ralph Edward's TV show "This Is Your Life" (June)
 * 1964 Sports Illustrated Silver Anniversary All American Selection
 * 1965 Distinguished American Award, Football Hall of Fame Foundation
 * 1970 President's Council on Physical Fitness
 * 1971 President's Distinguished Service Award
 * 1971 Appointed Revenue Commissioner for the State of Alabama
 * 1972 Elected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
 * 1974 Appointed to the Board of Trustees for the Eye Foundation Hospital
 * 1982 Veteran's Administration's Southeastern Charley Boswell Blind Rehabilitation Center dedicated
 * 1983 Alabama Academy of Honor
 * 1990 Paul "Bear" Bryant Alumni Athlete Award
 * 1993 Tuss McLaughry Award, College Football Coaches Assoc.

National Blind Golf Champion

 * 1947 Duluth, MN - Northland Country Club
 * 1948 San Antonio, TX - Breckinridge Country Club
 * 1949 Norristown, PA - Plymouth Country Club
 * 1950 August, ME - August Country Club
 * 1951 Norristown, PA - Plymouth Country Club
 * 1952 Detroit, MI - Dearborn Country Club
 * 1953 Birmingham, AL - Charlie Boswell Golf Course
 * 1955 Philadelphia, PA - Green Valley Country Club
 * 1956 Chicago, IL - Navajo Hills Country Club
 * 1957 Birmingham, AL - Vestavia Country Club
 * 1958 St. Petersburg, FL - Pasadena Country Club
 * 1959 Philadelphia, PA - Warrington Country Club
 * 1960 Bar Harbour, ME - Kebo Valley Country Club
 * 1961 Cleveland, OH - Tamarac Country Club
 * 1965 Montgomery, AL - Montgomery Country Club
 * 1966 Norfolk, VA - Stumpy Lake Country Club
 * 1970 Greensboro, NC - Starmount Forest Country Club

International Blind Golf Champion
Above lists of championships taken from
 * 1950 Hamilton, Ontario
 * 1952 Detroit, MI
 * 1955 Windsor, Ontario
 * 1956 London, Ontario
 * 1957 Hamilton, Ontario
 * 1958 Brantford, Ontario
 * 1959 Kitchner, Ontario
 * 1960 Toronto, Ontario
 * 1961 Buffalo, NY (Canadian Side)
 * 1965 Toronto, Ontario
 * 1967 Hamilton, Ontario