Blanding, Albert Hazan, 1876-1970.

Albert Hazen Blanding was a prominent National Guard officer. He graduated from East Florida Seminary in Gainesville in 1894. In 1895 he enrolled in the Gainesville Guards, Florida State Troops. By 1899, he was a Colonel in the Second Florida Infantry Regiment, and he commanded the Regiment when it was called into federal service during the Mexican Punitive Expedition, 1916-1917.

Blanding was appointed Brigadier General by President Woodrow Wilson in August 1917. He was one of only eight National Guard officers to be promoted to such rank. During World War I, Blanding served in France with several units and earned the Distinguished Service Medal.

After the war Blanding returned to Florida and worked in the lumber and citrus industries. He was active as a veteran in the American Legion in Florida. He remained in the National Guard and commanded the Thirty-first Infantry Division from 1924 to 1940. Blanding served in Washington as the Chief of the National Guard Bureau from 1936 to 1940. During World War II, Blanding returned to public service as military advisor to Governor Spessard Holland and as coordinator of the state's civil defenses.

From the description of Papers, 1917-1958. (Florida State Archive). WorldCat record id: 32413251