Robert Hornung: Life of a Grunt in the Hot Jungle

By Lale Schram, Honor Flight Chicago Veteran Interview Volunteer

Robert Hornung grew up on the south side of Chicago. His older brother served in the Korean War. He volunteered for the draft in 1968, at age 18.  He signed up in early summer to postpone his deployment until November.  He wanted a little more time to enjoy himself and began his service in November 1968. He served in the Army until November, 1970.

Robert’s Basic and AIT Training (Advanced Infantry Training) were at Fort Polk in Louisiana located near Shreveport. When the enlistees arrived, they were greeted with an enormous sign “Birthplace of the Combat Infantryman for Vietnam.” Bob spent 9 weeks in Basic Training at Fort Polk and continued with AIT training for an additional 6-8 weeks. Bob decided to stay in the infantry.  After a 30 day leave, he was on to Washington State for deployment. 

When Bob landed at Cam Ranh Bay, the first thing he noticed was the smell – a mixture of gunpowder and human waste.  This area was where the office personnel were housed. This was an 8-5 hours location, not a combat related zone.

After a three-day orientation, Bob was sent to Pleiku where he joined his division. The other soldiers were mostly from the Chicago area, Indiana and Wisconsin. Bob’s division spent hours humping (walking) in the hot/wet jungle.  Each soldier carried his rucksack with 70-80 pounds of ammo and personal belongings. They also carried a machine gun.  Bob also carried a personal handgun that was sent over to him by his brother, a Chicago policeman.

The men walked all day and night.  Rest was 1 hour of sleep while standing up. His company participated in many assaults, about 35-40 by Bob’s reckoning.  At times the soldiers were transported by large helicopters with no doors into hot landing zones (LZ). There was often heavy fighting in these areas. He still finds this a difficult subject to talk about, even after all these years. He was only 19 years old at the time.

At the age of 20, Bob was made Sergeant.  This promotion was for time served. He was in charge of 6-8 men.  He was given another sidearm. While in Vietnam Bob and his company experienced the monsoons.  During that time it rained 8-10 weeks without stopping.

Occasionally the men were given a stand-down break.   It was considered a relaxation status of the military unit. At this time they did not have duty and they were in a safe place.  These couple of days were well-deserved for these brave men.

Bob’s platoon had a pet monkey.  One of Bob’s mates had adopted a monkey that he had found. This monkey was a companion to the men and often hung around their legs and arms. Sadly, the monkey had to be destroyed after a problem with one of the “Donut Dollies” during a rest period. The “Donut Dollies” were a group of women working with the American Red Cross. They would give a few hours of respite to troops longing for home, playing games or records or just sit and chat.

During Christmas week, the platoon spent 5 days in Cambodia.  Although it was a neutral zone, it was often a place with bombings. At this time they were to make no contact with anyone and they had to move locations every 8-10 hours.  They were in this area looking for infiltration routes. When they returned to base, they were given a welcome home party hosted by the Green Berets.

The soldiers in Vietnam got mail every 2 weeks. They received food rations, candy, cigarettes, toothpaste and matches. Days of rest were spent in Australia, Okinawa or in Vietnam.

When Bob’s time was over, he was supposed to have an “early out” per President Nixon.  However, at this time the bombing was very heavy and Bob ended up leaving Pleiku 6 days later. He left Vietnam with 90 days left of service.  He flew to Fort Hood in Texas where he worked as a track commander with the 1st Armored Division.

Following his discharge, Bob entertained the idea of being an Air Marshall but decided to return to his former job at Firestone Tire as a brake and front end mechanic. He then went on to assembling locomotives for General Motors.  His final job was at Chapel Hill Garden Cemetery in Oak Lawn, Illinois.

In Vietnam Bob served with Company B 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division as a Combat Infantryman.  He received a Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star and a Vietnam Service Medal with 3 bronze stars. He served in Pleiku, Kon Tum and An Khe. He participated in one of the Central Highlands largest enemy cache finds.

Bob is in contact with some of his friends from the Army. He is looking forward to being reacquainted with friends and meeting some new ones on this flight! 

Thank you Bob for your courageous service to our country. Enjoy your day of honor in Washington D.C., and we hope you make many new friends among your fellow veterans on the flight!