#TDIDCH: Dec 30, 1968 - Opelika, Alabama native Robert Howard, is among the most highly decorated American Soldiers of the post-WWII era.

53 years ago today saw his most valorous combat action.

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That day, while on a joint Vietnamese-US patrol to recover a missing US Soldier, then-Sgt First Class Robert Howard, a platoon sergeant with @5thForces, found his platoon surrounded by North Vietnamese regulars.
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Robert was seriously wounded and his weapon destroyed by an enemy grenade.

He saw his PL was wounded as well.

He was too injured to walk and he had no weapon (even if he had a rifle, his hands were ripped up by the NVA grenade).

[📸: Robert on left]
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Nonetheless, Robert crawled to his PL, rendered aid & began crawling back, carrying his 6'4", 200 lbs PL. A bullet smashed into a magazine in Robert's ammo belt, setting off the rounds he was carrying. He was hit with 15 rounds of exploding ammo.

[📸: Robert on left]
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Somehow, Robert crawls the wounded Platoon Leader to a medic.

Then, for 3-and-a-half hours, Robert leads the platoon to repulse multiple enemy attacks until the area was secured sufficient to land rescue helicopters.
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Even then, the badly wounded Robert refused to board the aircraft until all his men were safely aboard.

Of the 37 American Soldiers on the patrol, only 6 survived. Those 6 only made it out due to Robert's leadership.
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Robert was presented the Medal of Honor by President Richard Nixon for his valor that day.

In December, 1969, Robert received a direct commission from Master Sergeant to 1st Lt.

He fought in Vietnam for 54 months over three tours.
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Robert was wounded 14 times, earning 8 Purple Hearts. He fought with valor many times, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, and a whole bunch of other combat awards.

He served in the @USArmy for 36 years, retiring as a Colonel in 1992.
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After retirement, Robert took up residence in Texas and he spent much of his free time working with veterans on job placement and post-military life.

A Special Forces legend, he also took periodic trips to Iraq and Afghanistan to visit active duty troops.
[END]

Howard died of pancreatic cancer at a hospital in Waco, Texas on December 23, 2009. He now rests in Arlington National Cemetery.

He is the most decorated Special Forces officer of the Vietnam War.

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More from @18airbornecorps

1 Jan
#TDIDCH: Jan 1, 1945: WWII. In the early morning of the New Year, Hitler launches Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate), an assault by 900+ Luftwaffe planes flying at treetop altitude against Allied planes parked on airfields.

[1 of 8] Image
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By this time, the Luftwaffe was neutralized by Allied air superiority and had lost many trained pilots to Allied air strikes.

Bodenplatte was an attempt to knock out Allied aircraft & level the playing field enough to allow another German ground thrust into Bastogne. Image
[3 of 8]

During Bodenplatte, some (but not all or even most) Luftwaffe pilots, having just returned from New Year's parties, flew in their full dress uniforms.

These pilots referred to the operation as "The Hangover Raid." Image
Read 8 tweets
23 Dec 21
1 of 9:

One of the most-quoted stories from the Battle of the Bulge is a tale that's wrapped in legend. While the myth built around a famous quote is a good one, the TRUE story at the heart of this oft-told tale speaks to the ethos of the American Soldier.

Here's that story.
[2 of 9]

DEC 23, '44: Early AM, the @82ndABNDiv is digging in along the front in the Ardennes just outside the town of St. Vith. The 82nd, one of the units rushed into the Ardennes after the Germans smashed through, is just looking to hold the line until tank forces can move in
[3 of 9]

A tank destroyer from the 7th Armored Division (one of the units smashed by the German Panzer forces in the initial, shocking German blow on December 16th) moving back from the front passes a lone 82nd trooper digging a foxhole.
Read 9 tweets
22 Dec 21
1 of 23

DECEMBER 22, 1944: NUTS!

On the 7th day of the Battle of the Bulge, Bastogne seemed lost.
2 of 23:

When describing the 101st Airborne Division and the remnants of the 60th and 28th Divisions in Bastogne, many historians will tell you that the Americans were surrounded.
3 of 23:

That is accurate but it is insufficiently descriptive. "Surrounded" does not really come close to representing the odds stacked up against our Paratroopers by mid-day on Friday.
Read 23 tweets
21 Dec 21
[1 of 4]

#TDIDCH: Dec 21, 1945 – The Death of An American Legend.

George Patton long felt he deserved to die in battle, alongside the men he led. Instead, his death at age 60 came in a relatively minor auto accident.
[2 of 4]

12 days prior, Dec 9, 1945, Patton was sitting in the back of his car when his driver, PFC Horace Woodring [pictured], sped over a railroad crossing in Manheim, Germany, plowing into a left-turning Army truck. Patton broke his neck & was paralyzed. No one else was hurt.
[3 of 4]

Inside this hospital, doctors treated the Great General. For days, they prepared Patton for a flight back to the US. Before he could leave, however, a blood clot stopped his heart, killing him 76 years ago today.
Read 4 tweets
20 Dec 21
1 of 10:

DECEMBER 20, 1944

BATTLE OF THE BULGE, DAY 5

At this point, the reserve forces (the 82nd and the 101st and the headquarters of the XVIII Airborne) are in sector and in their fighting positions. For the first time ever, the XVIII Airborne Corps is operating in combat.
2 of 10:

On this day 76 years ago, the 82nd Airborne establishes a defense against the 6th SS Panzer Army in the small Belgian town of Werbemont. This was the northern shoulder of the German bulge.
3 of 10:

It was freezing cold in Werbemont, as temperatures dropped to around 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Light snow covered most of the ground.
Read 10 tweets
19 Dec 21
Kimbro Truman was a 22-year-old newly married Texan when he was drafted in 1941 for WWII.

A combat engineer assigned to the
@2INFDIV, he landed at Omaha Beach with the D Day invasion.

He was a squad leader 77 years ago during the #BattleOfTheBulge

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Tuesday, December 19, 1944 - Things are looking grim.

Kimrbo's unit is in the crossroads town of Rocherath, Belgium. The Americans are outnumbered & outgunned by the new German Tiger II tanks.
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Kimbro's unit was tasked with mining a N-S road to allow an element from the US 106th Division to retreat south. [📷: pillbox just outside the southern tip of the road]
Read 7 tweets

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