Robert L. Howard was born in Opelika, Alabama, and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1956 at age 17, serving for 36 years before retiring as a colonel in 1992. Over the course of his career his assignments spanned airborne infantry, Special Forces, and joint service roles, including extensive service with MACV-SOG and 5th Special Forces Group, where he operated in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
Howard deployed to Vietnam five times over 54 months of combat. During a 13 month period between 1968 and 1969 he was nominated for the Medal of Honor three separate times, the only soldier in U.S. history to receive three nominations within such a period. Two of those nominations were downgraded due to the classified nature of the operations in which he took part.
However, Howard received the Medal of Honor for his actions on 30 December 1968, while serving with 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). On a mission to locate a missing American soldier in enemy controlled territory, his force was ambushed. Although wounded and unarmed after a grenade destroyed his weapon, Howard crawled through intense fire to reach and recover his wounded team leader and reorganize his element. His conduct under fire helped prevent further casualties and allowed the unit to hold until they could be extracted.
Howard was wounded 14 times and earned eight Purple Hearts, as well as the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star, Defense Superior Service Medal, multiple Legions of Merit, and several Bronze Stars.
After Vietnam, Howard continued to serve and earned two master’s degrees and graduated from the War College.
Howard passed away on December 23, 2009, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. In recognition of his service and legacy, the headquarters building of the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell, Kentucky was named Howard Hall in his honor.