Posted by Philip Burns on January 23, 2011:

Former Classic Stars in Action The list of ex-Army Players grows: Pete-Dawkins To Blanda, Bill Carpenter, Dick Eckert, Glenn Blumhard, Monk Hilliard, all in Viet Nam And there was Bob Fuellhart. Maybe not all the buffs among the 102,000 will remember the name quickly, although he came three times to Broad St. pageant. He was a lean-jawed, solid kid who grew up at Tionesta, a village in the bear and deer country of Western Pennsylvania. He had been a hurdler and broad jumper at Kiski Prep before going to West Point. Because of his fine speed, Fuellhart played the "Lonesome End" behind Bill Carpenter his first season at Army, It was ironic. Carpenter an advisor in Viet Nam for 13 months when few people could even find the Mekong Delta on a map, was wounded twice. He is now an instructor at Fort Knox, KY. and wears the Bronze and Silver star. Fuellhart's trips to Philadelphia were not cheerful ones. His teams lost three times to Navy. The last one was in 1961, a day memorable because Of John Kennedy's halftime promenade across a blustery, cold field without a topcoat. Navy took that one, 13-7, although cramped by injuries, was a rangy, bitter figure on defense. That's how they later remembered him in Viet Nam. His Vietnamese troops called Fuellhart "The Long One," and not only because his six-foot height towered over the 100-Pound natives. With a long cigar and the red beret of the 44th Ranger Battalion, Fuellhart was not hard to spot and he astonished the Vietnamese by standing up in battle to direct air strikes. Large Target, Big Courage He did it at least twice. Once he climbed out of a water-filled ditch to Point out Viet Cong targets for striking fighters. He was a large target, and Viet Cong fire shattered a banana tree over him showering leaves and debris. "It took a lot of courage", said an American captain who recommended the Bronze Star, "especially for an officer in his first combat." On Aug. 12 Fuellhart's jungle fighting unit ran into strong Viet Cong fire near a hamlet of thatched shacks called Phung Heip. The Viet Cong had armored carriers and an American machine gun, and it was taking a toll. "Not as much fire at my end," Fuellhart radioed to Capt. Jerry Devlin. "Maybe we can move in." "Wait for another air strike", said Devlin. Fuellhart, standing up in the mud with the radio strapped to his back, was talking to the helicopters as they hit the tree line. He went to his knees, struck by a bullet. He died an hour before his wife, Jan, home in Tionesta, gave birth to a girl. Rabble - 1965 By Tom Sargeant, Staff Writer

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