This website is
dedicated to Robert L. Howard, one of America's most decorated soldiers.
He served five tours in Vietnam and is the only soldier in our nation's
history to be nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor three times
for three separate actions within a thirteen month period. The
first nomination was downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross. The
second nomination was downgraded to the Silver Star. The third
nomination was downgraded to a 2nd Distinguished Service Cross but later
upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
He received a direct appointment from Master
Sergeant to 1st Lieutenant in 1969, and was awarded the Medal of Honor
by President Richard M. Nixon at the White House in 1971. His other
awards for valor include the Distinguished Service Cross - our nation's
second highest award, the Silver Star - the third highest award, and
numerous lesser decorations including eight Purple Hearts. He received
his decorations for valor for actions while serving as an NCO (Non-Commissioned
Officer).
Robert L. Howard grew up in Opelika, Alabama and
enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1956 at age seventeen. He retired as a full
Colonel in 1992 after 36 years service. During Vietnam, he served in the
U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and spent most of his five tours
in the super-secret MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies
and Observations Group) also known as Special Operations Group, which ran
classified cross-border operations into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam.
These men carried out some of the most daring and dangerous missions ever
conducted by the U.S. military. The understrength sixty-man recon company
at Kontum in which he served was the Vietnam War's most highly decorated
unit of its size with five Medals of Honor. It was for his actions while
serving on a mission to rescue a fellow soldier in Cambodia, that he was
submitted for the Medal of Honor the third time for his extraordinary
heroism.
Robert L. Howard is said to be our nation's most decorated soldier from the
Vietnam War. He was the last Vietnam Special Forces Medal of Honor
recipient still on active duty when he retired on Sept. 29, 1992. His
story is told in John Plaster's excellent book, SOG The Secret Wars of
America's Commandos in Vietnam.
It is important for future generations that we remember
our military heroes and the great sacrifices they have made for us in the
name of Freedom.
Excerpt from John Plaster's recent bookSECRET COMMANDOS
Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG - pg. 303:
"The day that President Nixon draped the Medal of Honor's pale blue ribbon
around Howard's neck, I sat before the TV in my parents' living room
watching the evening news. Coming on top of his previous decorations - the
Distinguished Service Cross and multiple Silver and Bronze Stars, plus
eight Purple Hearts - Howard's combat awards exceeded those of Audie
Murphy, America's legendary World War II hero, until then our most highly
decorated serviceman. At last, Howard would get his due. I flipped station
to station, but not one of the networks - not CBS or NBC or ABC - could
find ten seconds to mention Captain Robert Howard or his indomitable
courage. I found nothing about him in the newspapers. Twisted by the
antiwar politics of that era, many in the media believed that to recognize
a heroic act was to glorify war. They simply chose not to cover the
ceremony. It might as well not have happened."
DOUBLE AWARDS: The act of
July 9, 1918 was further clarified in September, then again in February
1919, to stipulate that no person could receive more than ONE Medal of
Honor. Previously there had been 19 DOUBLE AWARDS of the Medal, but
hereafter, while there were provisions for second and consecutive awards
of lesser medals to be made and noted with appropriate ribbon devices,
no more than ONE Medal of Honor could be awarded. Source:
CMOHS
Website
Wounded 14 times in 54 months of combat duty in Vietnam,
Robert
Howard was awarded 8 Purple Hearts and was believed
to be the most decorated living American.
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