Fullbore Friday

libraries of stories untold

Sometimes, in the course of looking for one thing, you stumble on to another.

Such is the case of Master Sergeant Robert Cyrill Donald, USA.

I happened to be bouncing through the Vietnam Veterans Memorial “Wall of Faces” page when this pic came up:

My first thought was, “My brother, what were you doing in Vietnam, you’re too old for this sh1t.”

Maybe it was just a bad picture, but no. The Special Forces Roll of Honor had the details:

• UNIT: 5 SF Group (Det A-241) ​

• RANK: Master Sergeant ​

• NUMBER: 20118620 ​

• DATE OF DEATH: 17th February 1967 ​

• AGE: 52 ​

• GRAVESITE: Arlington National Cemetery,Virginia Section 51 Site 2343 ​

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • from Fayetteville,North Carolina

  • born 12.7.1914 Canada​

  • son of Andrew Duncan and Christine Donald​

  • husband of Janet E. (nee Odlum) Donald, 204 Hillcrest Drive, Fayetteville, North Carolina (1918-2003) (9 children)​

  • enlisted National Guard 17.1.1932​

  • US Citizen 7.3.1938​

  • 3 years high school​

  • unskilled woodworker in civilian life​

  • enlisted 16.9.1940 Boston,Massachusetts (Sergeant,Coast Artillery Corps)​

  • served in WW2​

  • served Korean War​

  • 48 Infantry Regiment (Company D) 1962​

  • awards Bronze Star,Army Commendation Medal​

  • KIA Polei Kleng, Kontum Province, South Vietnam​

  • Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C. Panel 15E Line 54

Just look at the man in full.

Enlisted at 24 in the heart of the Great Depression. Fought in WWII. Fought in Korea. A member of one of the first cohort of people in Special Forces as a senior leader after President Kennedy kicked it off, I am sure.

A father of nine.

He was KIA 02/17/1967 at or while operating out of the Polei Kleng Special Forces base in the Central Highlands in what was at least his second tour in Vietnam.

I cannot find out anything else about this man … but there has to be one hell of a story, not just about the man, but the journey of the Army and the nation he served from the 1930s to the 1960s - serving a the front at age 52.

Does Netflix need an idea for a new mini-series?

I don’t know his story, but in a way, I don’t need to.

Fullbore.