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"Although he became famous as Army’s ‘Lonesome End,’ the gridiron was not the only field on which he excelled.” In this thumbnail reference to <em>Bob Fuellhart </em>at graduation, the 1962 <em>Howitze</em>r added, "We will always remember his ready laugh and good humor.”</p>
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Three years later, war correspondent Jimmy Breslin reported from Vietnam: “Fuellhart, big-boned and well over six feet...was a known sports page name...but he never talked about football. He talked about being a soldier and going into action.”</p>
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Born in Tionesta, Pennsylvania, on 12 January 1939, Bob, during his early schooling and through to his graduation at the Kiskim-inetas Preparatory School, developed the stamina, the sense of timing, and the dynamism for “hard-hitting” action, in short, the prowess and the mold of character which foreshadowed his impressive athletic record and his leadership accomplishments at the U. S. Military Academy.</p>
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Bracketed with these years of schooling and vigorous physical pursuits, the military service of Bob Fuellhart is in marked harmony with the philosophy of the Duke of Wellington’s capsuled critique: “The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.”</p>
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Bob did not live to wear the stars of a general officer as predicted in the 1962 Howitzer. He was killed in the far south of Vietnam, as an advisor to a Vietnamese battalion, while directing an air strike in support of his group that was battling the Viet Cong at a place called Phong Hicp in the Mekong Delta area.</p>
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A memorial resolution, adopted by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, referred to Bob’s last mission as “an inspiring story of duty, courage, and devotion to country, in the highest traditions of the Army.”</p>
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And behind this dedicated performance, there should be chronicled the serious bent of a mature, earnest young officer, with the athletic fields behind him as a distant memory, ever striving to deepen his knowledge and to strengthen his effectiveness as a leader of men in combat.</p>
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He elected to become and was accepted as a Ranger. He attended the Airborne, Jump-master, Ranger, and Special Warfare Schools, and he studied the Vietnamese language at the Defense Language Institute. After service with the 25th Division at Schofield Barracks, his final assignment was with the 44th Ranger Battalion, Can Tho, South Vietnam.</p>
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Recognition of his devoted service and outstanding military character came with a posthumous promotion to the rank of captain. He had also been awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star with "V,” an Oak Leaf Cluster to the Bronze Star, and the Silver Star by his own country, and from Vietnam, that country’s Gallantry Cross with Palm Leaf, and National Order Medal, Fifth Class.</p>
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Beyond this story of an unusually creditable performance of a young combat officer, there lies a deeply touching feature.</p>
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Two hours before the fatal turn in Vietnam, back in the United States, a baby girl was bom to Bob’s young and pretty wife Jan, an Armed Service Junior, daughter of Colonel John A. Bell, U. S. Air Force. Due to jungle battle conditions, word never reached Bob.</p>
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However, to this daughter he has left a legacy, and to the Army, another stone in the great mound of high tradition, the memory of a brief but outstanding military career, of epic devotion to duty.</p>
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He was buried at the U. S. Military Academy with full military honors. His attachment to West Point was deep and abiding.</p>
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In addition to his wife Jan, and daughter Jami Lee, Captain Fuellhart is survived by his parents Mr. and Mrs. R.H. Fuellhart Sr., of Tionesta, Pennsylvania, and by two sisters and two brothers.</p>
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<em>—James Kepler Davis Rear Admiral, USN, Ret.</em><br />
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