The soldier who survived 14 wounds to become a living legend

Wars & Conflicts · Published 16 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Robert L. Howard was the most decorated soldier of the Vietnam War, but his path to the Medal of Honor was paved with literal explosions. After being blown backward by a detonating ammunition pouch, he crawled through a hail of gunfire to save a dying officer, defying the odds of a desperate rescue mission.

Born in 1939, Howard was inspired by his father and uncles, who served as paratroopers in the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. This lineage of service led him to enlist in 1956. He eventually joined the same unit his father served in, deploying to Vietnam in 1965. After being wounded in early combat, he transitioned into the Special Forces, earning his Ranger tab and becoming a Green Beret. His career was defined by high-stakes, often clandestine operations in Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam. On December 30, 1968, while serving as a Sergeant First Class, Howard led a platoon of American and Vietnamese soldiers in a rescue mission in Laos. During a fierce ambush, Howard was wounded and his weapon was destroyed. Despite his hands being burned and blown up, he crawled through heavy fire to reach a seriously wounded lieutenant. When an enemy bullet hit his pouch, it detonated several magazines of ammunition, throwing him several feet.

Nevertheless, Howard rallied the remaining men, established a defensive perimeter using a nearby tributary to block enemy movement, and coordinated air support to hold off a much larger force. Howard's actions were so significant that he was the only soldier nominated three times for the Medal of Honor within a 13-month period. Interestingly, two of those nominations were downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star because the operations were so top-secret they could not be publicly disclosed at the time. He eventually received the Medal of Honor on March 2, 1971, for his actions in the Laos rescue. Over his 36-year career, which ended with his retirement as a colonel in 1992, Howard was wounded 14 times and earned eight Purple Hearts.

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