More detail on this person: Bob received his draft papers ten days before his nineteenth birthday. Basic was at Ft Knox where he did well on all the aptitude tests. He was eligible for any school the Army had. He chose Field Radio Repair and Maintenance, MOS 31E20. While attending Signal School he volunteered for flight training. When primary flight school was over, he was sent to Fort Rucker to learn to fly the Huey. The whole school lasted about a year from start to finish. He graduated in May of 1968, one of the top ten in his class. He was assigned to the 498th Air Ambulance Company out of An Son. He was told him that after about 280 hours they would consider him for aircraft commander. He became an aircraft commander after about 28 hours. He was shot down and wounded in May 1969. Twenty rounds entered the cockpit and fifteen in the inner compartment One had hit his legs, and one took out the radios and the intercom so he couldn't tell his pilot he was shot. Without the intercom, he couldn't tell anyone he was hit, so he had to keep flying. He landed at an ARVN artillery outpost about three miles away. He was in the hospital for six days. He shortly returned to flying. During this tour he evacuated over 1,500 men. He was sent back to Vietnam in July 1971 as Executive Officer of AVEL Central then assistant S-3 at Headquarters, 520th Transportation Bn. He came home in July 1972 for the second time. After returning home he decided to leave the Army and resigned. His awards include The Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Air Medal with V for valor, 14 additional Air Medals for missions flown and the Army Commendation Medal. After his honorary discharge from the military, Bob practiced many different occupations that included real estate, tax preparation, and others but his joy for computers and software programming kept him in that space for nearly his entire career. He passed away in his sleep on December 27, 2024. He was 77 years old.
This information was last updated 02/25/2025
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Date posted on this site: 10/13/2025
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