Vincent Mroz

Vincent Peter Mroz (March 11, 1922 – July 22, 2008) was a United States Marine Corps veteran, having served during World War II, and a United States Secret Service agent. In 1948, he was assigned to the presidential protection detail during the Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower administrations. He served with the Secret Service for 26 years, retiring in 1974 as the Deputy Assistant Director of the uniformed division.

In November 1950, Mroz gained national attention for his involvement in the "biggest gunfight in Secret Service history" during an assassination attempt on President Truman by two Puerto Rican nationalists. Mroz was credited with shooting one of the assailants in the chest and disarmed the body of a second assailant.

Mroz had earlier played college football for the University of Michigan and Michigan State College.

Early years
Vincent Mroz was born in Stanley, Wisconsin in 1922, the son of Polish immigrants. His family later moved to East Chicago, Indiana. Mroz attended Washington High School as part of the Class of 1941. In the fall of 1940, he played at the guard and tackle positions for the Washington High School football team. At the time of the 1940 United States Census, he was living in East Chicago with his mother Antonia and his stepfather Martin Gzik.

Marriage and family
While still serving in the military, Mroz (then a lieutenant in the Marine Corps) was married in October 1945 to Shirley Gamm at the Mt. Vernon Place Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. They had two children, Barbara and Gregory Mroz.

Secret Service
In 1948, Mroz went to work for the United States Secret Service. He was assigned to the presidential protection detail.

1950 attack on Blair House
On November 1, 1950, Mroz engaged in a gunfight with two Puerto Rican nationalists who stormed the Blair House in an assassination attempt on President Harry S. Truman. The president was temporarily living at Blair House while the White House was undergoing renovations. While President Truman napped on the second floor, one of the attackers, Oscar Collazo, shot a White House police officer at the guard house and began walking up the front steps of Blair House. After hearing the gunshots, Mroz ran through a basement corridor and stepped out of a street-level door on the east side of the House, where he opened fire on Collazo. Mroz stopped Collazo on the outside steps with a bullet to the chest. The incident has been described as "the biggest gunfight in Secret Service History." Two other officers took part in the shooting of the attackers.

After the shooting ceased, Mroz discovered the body of the second attacker, Griselio Torresola, in the hedges adjacent to Blair House. He had been shot by another officer, Floyd Boring. Mroz removed a gun from Torresola's body and found two magazines of ammunition in his pockets.

In December 1951, President Truman, described as being "deeply moved," decorated Mroz and Floyd Boring, described as "two straight-shooting secret service agents," with silver lapel buttons for their roles in preventing his assassination. Collazo survived and was put on trial in February 1951. At the trial, Mroz identified Collazo, "He's sitting right there with a brown suit and a red tie and glasses on."

Later years
Mroz continued to work in the presidential protection detail during the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. From 1960 to 1962, Mroz was the chief of the Charleston, West Virginia office of the Secret Service, where he gained note for his investigation of a counterfeiting ring. From 1963 to 1965, he was the head of the Kansas City office of the Secret Service.

He worked for the Secret Service for 26 years. By 1971, Mroz held the position of Deputy Assistant Director, Protective Services. He retired in 1974 as the Deputy Assistant Director of the Uniformed Division.

Later years
Mroz was retired for 34 years. He died at his home in Adrian, Michigan, in July 2008.