Our walk today was dedicated in honor of:
Army SMAJ Herbert Roberts Jr, Age 46 of Sunbright, TN.
KIA Dec. 20, 1967
He is honored on Panel 32E, Line 33 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.
Sergeant Major Herbert Roberts Jr., Served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.
He joined the United States Army in 1941. Before joining the Army he was a lineman for the Southern Bell Telephone Company at Sunbright, Tennessee. He first saw action on Mindoro in the Philippines. He also participated in the parachute invasion of Corregidor. His awards included the Distinguished Unit Badge given to the 503d Parachute Infantry Combat Team.
In the 1960s, he served as a Pistol Coach at the USMA.
In Vietnam, he served with Headquarters & Headquarters Company 3rd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division at Kon Tum Province, South Vietnam. He accompanied the Battalion Commander, LTC Glen Dean Belnap, in a UH-1H Huey helicopter. The tail rotor of the UH-1H Huey helicopter struck a tree and crashed. Casualties included SGM Roberts, LTC Belnap Co-Pilot WO Jeremiah D. McGarry and Crew Chief PFC David Antol.
It was an honor to walk 2.00 miles with Army SMAJ Herbert Roberts Jr today. We drove to Sunbright, TN and parked at the Veterans Memorial. We took some time and read some names up on the memorial walls. We then walked past the gas station and made a loop past the church. We got to visit with a few workers and then we walked past the post office and headed back to the Veterans Memorial. Their was a walking track so we decided to walk that a few times. We got to visit with a couple more people and then we ended the walk. Their was not a lot of places to walk their. It’s one of those towns that if you blink, you might miss it. It was still a great walk. I want to thank my friend Robert for walking with us today. I am also thankful for the honk that we got and all that waved. We had a great walk.
Army SMAJ Herbert Roberts Jr will not be forgotten !
