Robert Brown: Something To Prove and Everything To Lose

By Charlie Souhrada, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Bob was born in 1943 and grew up in Aurora with his parents, Everett, and Gladys, guiding the way for him and his three older brothers, Don, Henry, and Les. “We lived on a farm where my dad worked as a hired hand and we all had work to do,” he remembers. In 1952, the family moved to town. Years later, Bob attended West Aurora High School, where he played football, wrestled, and worked at a paint store in downtown Aurora for 92 cents an hour. “We would get bulk naphtha and paint thinner and put it into gallon buckets for sale. It’s a wonder I lived through that!”

After graduating high school in 1961, Bob attended the University of Illinois for two semesters but came home when it became clear he wasn’t ready for college. He started working in a local drug store. In 1964, Bob married Ginger, his high school sweetheart. In 1966, they celebrated their second wedding anniversary. With a steady job at the drugstore, life was good. 

Later that same year, with something to prove and everything to lose, Bob enlisted in the Army. “In 1966, things were heating up in Vietnam and rather than wait for the draft, I enlisted in the Army, and it all started for me right then. I felt it was something I should do, but it was not a good time for us,” he admits. “Ginger found out I enlisted, which was a three-year stint as opposed to a two-year commitment and that was a rough spot. Two weeks after I enlisted, I got my draft notice, so no matter what, I was right there … I would have been in no matter what,” he says.

His path began with Basic Combat Training at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and from there he started to challenge himself. He took advanced individual training (AIT) at Fort Ord and during AIT, he applied for and was accepted into Infantry Officer Candidate School. He graduated from OCS in October, 1967 and took his first duty assignment at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. In 1968, Bob took his training to an even higher level. That year, he went to jump school, took Vietnamese language training, attended military advisory school and special forces training.

“I was challenging myself. Sometimes I think it was foolish, other times I think I had something to prove,” he says. “All three of my brothers were good athletes. I was never quite as good at those things, so I guess I wanted to show them that I could be good at something too.” 

By the time he finished special forces training, Ginger was living at home with her parents. Bob returned to Aurora in time for his daughter Amy’s birth in December, 1968. Less than three weeks later, Bob left for Vietnam on January 7, 1969. “My wife’s the one who should be getting a medal,” he laughs.

In his own words, Bob describes his service in-country as “pretty straightforward.” He was assigned to a team in the Central Highlands region bordering Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. There, he served as a psychological operations (PSYOP) officer. “In simple terms, Special Forces were developed to enter countries, to train and advise resistance groups. We were very efficient ground units.”

He gives much of the credit to indigenous tribes of mountain warriors, called Montagnard, who worked with French forces in the 1950’s to protect their homelands, then worked with the Army when the U.S. got engaged in Vietnam. According to Slate.com, the Montagnards were an excellent match with U.S. Special Forces—each tough, versatile, and accustomed to living in wild conditions. Bob points to their work as one of the bright spots in a brutal war. One of Bob’s souvenirs of the war is a primitive but effective weapon used by them.

“We were good on the ground, but they had lifelong knowledge,” he says. “We’d be out on an operation walking along and they’d be on alert and almost inevitably we’d make contact. They just knew what was going on all the time. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate them and what they did for us.”

In January 1970, Bob’s tour of duty in Vietnam was over and he returned to Fort Lewis Washington where he was discharged as one of the oldest first lieutenants in the Army at that time. He caught a commercial flight back to Chicago where Ginger met him at O’Hare, and they returned to Aurora to live with her parents. He worked nights at Nabisco in Naperville and took classes at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, graduating in 1972. Two years later, his son Michael was born.

After graduation, he took a job in the employment insurance industry where he worked for nearly six years. “Because of what I’d been through, I had trouble working for people,” he says. “I started working with my brother-in-law moving furniture, then started doing it on my own.” He leveraged his experience to buy his own truck and built a career for himself as an independent contractor moving household goods, electronics and trade show displays.

In the ‘90s, heart issues forced Bob to close his operation and slow down. In 2006, he couldn’t pass the Department of Transportation’s physical requirement test for truck drivers, and he officially retired. He now “lives happily ever after” giving much of the credit to the medical team at the Veterans Administration (VA). 

“On one of my visits, my doctor said: ‘You were in Vietnam? You were on the ground in Vietnam? Have you heard of the presumptive exposure to Agent Orange?’ He referred me to a VA case officer in Kane County who helped me file a claim. As a result, the VA determined that I am 100% disabled and that my heart problems are caused by Agent Orange. Tell everyone you know that if they were in Vietnam and they have a list of health issues, they could be presumptively found to be disabled.”  

Years later, Bob Brown has no regrets about his service in Vietnam, and little left to prove – all except for one very important person to thank – his wife, Ginger. In 2024, the couple plans to mark their 60th wedding anniversary and that is cause for celebration.

Thank you, Bob, for your sacrifice and service to your country.  Enjoy your well-deserved day of honor as part of Honor Flight Chicago’s 99th flight!