1st Lt. Robert Glenn Hartman

Mar. 27, 1945 - Oct 1, 1969

Chico

In 1967, Robert Hartman had completed his master’s in icthyology at the University of Michigan. He planned to return in September to pursue his doctorate in the same field. But his plans were stymied when he was drafted that summer.

Hartman was born in Santa Barbara, but moved to Chico at an early age. He attended Chico schools, where he excelled academically. When he graduated from Chico Senior High in 1962 Hartman was recognized as a scholar as well as a letterman in football and track.

In boot camp in Ft. Dix, New Jersey, Hart- man was “pulled out of his tent” and sent to officer candidate school. After training in various parts of the United States and in the jungles of Panama, Hartman’s platoon of the 199th Infantry was sent to Vietnam in February 1969.

The going wasn’t easy, and Hartman told his parents of spending days in leech-infested waters and being in battles where automatic weapons literally cut down the jungle.

Several months after he arrived in-country, Hartman stepped outside the perimeter of his defensive position to go after a young soldier. He was blown up by a Claymore mine.

The young officer did not die, but was sent to Camp Drake, Japan to recover from his wounds. His parents joined him there and learned he would be a paraplegic for life.

In late September 1969, Hartman was transferred to Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco. He was there less than a month when vicious infections overtook his body and he died.

Chico News & Review, May 26, 1988

555586777 1LT USA (MOS 1542: Infantry Unit Commander

Wounded: 1 Oct 1969, Long Khanh Province, South Vietnam Casualty Details: Wounded by explosive device

Listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall Washington, D.C. at Panel W17 Line 22 Listed on the Gold Star Memorial Glen Oaks Memorial Park

Burial: Glen Oaks Memorial Park, PE 568 4

Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge

1LT Robert Glenn Hartman was born in Santa Barbara, CA. on 27 March 1945. The only son of Maynard and Mildred Hartman. When Bob was a small child, the Hartman family moved to Chico, CA. Bob attended Hooker Oak Elementary School, Bidwell Junior High School and Chico High School. At CHS, he was a scholar athlete as a halfback with the 1962 Northern Athletic League championship football team and a middle distance leg on the 440 relay team that still holds the school record for that distance as of 2008. He was the 100 and 220 sprint leg on the 1960, 61 & 62 team that never lost a meet. During those years the CHS track team won the Oroville Relays, The Chico Invitational Relays and the NSCIF Crowns.

Bob’s community activities included Boy Scouts of America Troop 6, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout and being selected as an honor camper by the Order of the Arrow. He was a member of the 1st Baptist Church in Chico.

After graduation from Chico High School in 1962, Bob attended the University of California at Santa Barbara from 1962 to 1966 earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Analytical Biology. He was a member of and house manager for the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Bob then pursued a Master’s Degree in Ichthyology specializing in fisheries from the University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources in 1967. Before he could return to UM to enroll as a doctoral candidate in the same field, he was drafted by the US Army in September of 1967. Bob received Basic Recruit Training at Ft. Dix, NJ, and while on bivouac he so impressed his instructors that he was pulled out of the field and shipped to Ft. Benning, GA. as an Officer Candidate of 62nd Co., OC Class 509-68. During the fourteen week program, Bob participated in the rigorous training and upon competition, 5 AUG 1968, received a commission as a 2LT. He then completed The Infantry Officer Basic Course at Ft. Benning, GA. He was then assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade “Redcatchers” for advanced training. In February 1969, while training at the Jungle Operations Training Center at Ft. Sherman, Panama Canal Zone with the 199th, his Brigade was mobilized and deployed to Camp Frenzell-Jones near Long Binh, Viet Nam.

From March thru July 1969, Bob was assigned as a Platoon Leader, of the Company “C”, “Comanche’s”, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 199th Infantry Brigade, 25th Infantry Division. On 17 July 1969, while moving with his soldiers outside the perimeter of a major base camp operated by the 33rd NVA Regiment in the Province of Long Khanh, Bob was injured by shrapnel from a remotely detonated, “Claymore”, anti-personnel mine that the NVA had turned around and pointed toward U.S. units during the previous night and was mortally wounded by the blast. Bob was evacuated from the immediate area and then transferred to Camp Drake, Japan to recover from his wounds. He was joined there by his parents where they were informed that he was a paraplegic. In late September, 1969, Bob was transferred to Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco, CA. where a vicious infection overtook his frail body and he succumbed to his wounds on 1 OCT 1969.

2LT Robert Glenn Hartman was laid to rest in Chico, CA. at Glenn Oaks Memorial Park on 9 OCT 1969, with full military honors and posthumously promoted to 1LT.

During Bob’s 2 year military career, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Viet Nam Service Medal, Republic of Viet Nam Campaign Medal and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge.

National Archives

Chico News & Review

Bill Edmiston