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He was a big, big man—</p>
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My husband, Bob.</p>
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A big man from head to toe.</p>
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With a heart full of love,</p>
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And a laugh so sincere-</p>
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A man you’d be proud to know.</p>
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His eyes sort of “crinkled,"</p>
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And his frown was thoughtful.</p>
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He worked and played to be tops.</p>
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His children and wife adored him so—</p>
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His parents loved him second to none.</p>
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So young to die-such a loss.</p>
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Pride and integrity were not just words</p>
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Not where Bob was concerned.</p>
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He lived life to the full,</p>
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And died true to his code</p>
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For freedom and decency defincd—</p>
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His was a world so discerned.</p>
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So we’ll live life through As he’d want us to—</p>
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Trying to hide our heartbreak inside</p>
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While remembering his words,</p>
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His love, and tremendous pride</p>
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In each of us, <em>Lord help us, do</em>.</p>
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-Mary Lou</p>
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<em>ROBERT GENE KIMMEL,</em> 39, father of three, lieutenant colonel and battalion commander, was killed in Vietnam on 14 November 1967. Bob’s command and control helicopter was hit by enemy ground fire; it crashed and burned. The seven others on board were also killed. An agonizing week of being listed as Missing in Action was experienced before, on the 21st, word was received by Bob’s family that he, in fact, had laid down his life for his God and his country. How very much we regret his passing.</p>
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A life such as Bob’s cannot be summarized, because there is no cnd-thosc people and things that he touched will continue to bear his mark, and this mark will remain with us—we who will face the uncertainties of time and events yet to pass because of all that Bob was, and is, now in living memory. It will always be difficult to realize that Bob is dead; life was so much a part of him. Taught by his parents to appreciate the importance of attention to detail and perfection in the completed task, Bob developed those traits of manhood early in life so that, at age twelve he competently took over the duties of head-of-household when his father went off to World War II. This early acceptance of responsibility gave rise to a seeming air of impatience later on as Bob went about his daily life, doing what needed to be done with dispatch and precision in order to accomplish the mission at hand.</p>
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As a cadet the mission was to learn and survive, and this Bob did in typical no-nonsense fashion. His neatness and perfection as a Plebe, to include military creases in class shirts with an illegal iron, were the bane of his company classmates. By example and direction. Bob taught others, and the lessons remain learned. It was good to be around him. His academic capacity left time to pursue what perhaps was his greatest non-military educational love—architecture-and here again its orderliness and perfection, and ability to portray the entire concept without sacrificing detail were most apparent in his efforts.</p>
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Mary Lou came into Bob’s life at West Point, and how grand they were for each other. A chapel wedding closely followed graduation and for the next fifteen years, five months, and twelve days the Infantry was privileged to have the service of a dedicated officer and his lovely and equally dedicated lady. Geoffrey was born while Bob served in the Korean War; Brandon joined the Kimmels at Fort Carson, Colorado. And then Holly, born in Nurnbcrg, Germany, a most special little daughter, completed the family that was to be Bob’s reason for being. His family now is Bob.</p>
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This death raises two questions that must be addressed, each one concerning Purpose: Purpose of Life and Purpose of Death.</p>
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As to the former, each man must answer this question for himself. We who remain can only speculate that parental pride and family love and devotion, when coupled with professional satisfaction resulting from continued excellence in performance of duty must in large measure be included in Bob’s definition of success. The professional soldier does not seek those assignments that keep him from the active battlefield; Bob’s Combat Infantryman Badge with star proudly attests to his dedication and service in both Korea and Vietnam against an armed enemy who would destroy that for which he stood. As a second lieutenant Bob served in Korea in the 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry; he was the commanding officer of that battalion when he was killed in Vietnam, fourteen years later. Bob’s pride in his CIB was matched with that for his first Legion of Merit, awarded for his typically outstanding performance of duty while a member of the staff of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Force Development, Department of the Army. A full listing of Bob's awards—those bits of ribbon and metal that are prized by the military as recognition of a job well done—signify a soldier who has served and succeeded, follows: Combat Infantryman Badge with Star, Silver Star Medal, Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, Korean Service Medal with campaign star, Vietnam Service Medal with campaign star, United Nations Service Medal, and the Vietnam Campaign Medal with 60 device.</p>
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Of further significance when considering the first question. Purpose of Life, are one’s friends. The response Mary Lou has had concerning Bob’s death would belie a phrase often heard that in the military there are many acquaintances but few friends, for Bob has not had countless friends. It will not be possible for Mary Lou to answer all the expressions of concern she has received; she has asked that those who read this might know of her profound appreciation for all that has and is being done for her and the family. To Bob’s classmates she extends sincere appreciation for the Class floral gift Mary Lou intends to stay in Falls Church, Virginia.</p>
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All of this then would indicate that Bob’s life, as he would view it, can be termed full and complete. We hope so.</p>
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As to the second. Purpose of Death, it is to us the living that this query must be directed. Bob’s task is done, and it can be rightfully said. “Well Done.” The world today is richer and better because Bob was here. Yet much, as always, remains to be done. If this tragic death—this going that ended a most promising and developing career of service to country-strengthens and stiffens our resolve to do, and to do as Bob would have done, that which needs to be done to insure the future peace and freedom of this country that he so loved, but even more important, if we are successful in accomplishing this continuing mission, then Bob’s death will not have been for nothing. We, then, are charged with the tasks that Bob has laid down. We shall miss his strength, his dedication, his warmth, his friendship, and his nearness. All that Robert Gene Kimmel was, and is, shall never leave us, and we are richer because of him. The ultimate answer to this question, Purpose of Death, is for us to answer as the uncertainties and challenges of the future are met.</p>
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May this fond, tangible farewell serve, then, as a searching measure of all that is felt and that must, forever, remain unsaid for one who has earned those sacred and honored words, “he died for his country.”</p>
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“Be Thou At Peace.”</p>
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<em>-A classmate</em></p>
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