Bobby Gilbert, First Sergeant

Bravo For This Black Lion!


General Westmoreland and First Sergeant Bobby J. Gilbert
The picture was taken at Ohio University when First Sergeant Gilbert taught ROTC

First Sergeant Bobby Gilbert

Bobby Gilbert joined the Army in 1952. He took his Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Recruit Bobby Gilbert and the U.S. Army had no idea what a great soldier Bobby would become, or how many young men's lives would be positively impacted by this young recruit during his career serving his country. It is somewhat ironic that Bobby Gilbert took his basic at Ft. Jackson, as Ft. Jackson was the last home of Bravo Company 2/28. At the time of the original writing of this article, 2/28 was a Basic Training battalion at Ft. Jackson, turning out America's modern patriots and defenders. It has now had its colors struck, and the 2/28 has been retired. The 1/28 is still an active battalioin and has served in Iraq.

After training in 1952, Private Gilbert was sent to Korea where he earned his Combat Infantryman's Badge and his first Bronze Star.

In 1966, when a Platoon Sergeant, Bobby Gilbert was sent to Vietnam, where he later became First Sergeant Bobby Gilbert after serving with the Second battalion, Twenty Eighth Infantry, a combat infantry battalion, heavily engaged defending South Vietnam from the intrusions of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and from local Viet Cong (V.C.)guerilla forces. It was Bravo Company's good fortune to have Bobby join them, as he had combat experience. In Vietnam, he earned the star for his C.I.B. that he won in Korea. The star indicated he had twice served in unrelated theaters of combat. Bobby was first assigned to Third Platoon (a.k.a. "third Herd"). Having a new platoon sergeant that was a combat veteran was a huge advantage for third platoon and increased the likelyhood of the men's survival.

At 5'2", Bobby Gilbert was the shortest First Sergeant to serve in Bravo Company in Vietnam. Bobby had a sense of humor about his height. According to his wife, Donna, "Bobby always said he was over 6ft tall and weighed 220 but tanks kept running over him and that is what made him so small." Although he was short in height, he was long on nerve and bravery - even though he was a platoon sergeant at the time, he would crawl into NVA and Vietcong Tunnels when they were found. Due to his rank, Bobby would never have had to jeopradize his life like that, but Bobby knew his size was a major advantage for exploring tunnels. In late 1966 or early 1967, the New York Times had an article about the Black Lions. It told about rice and other things that were found and showed a picture of Bobby Gilbert emerging from a tunnel. Bobby reluctantly ceased exploring tunnels when Captain John Turner ordered him to stop. Captain Turner couldn't afford to lose one of his best Non-commissioned Officers.

During the battle of Xom Bo II (Operation Billings), the company First Sergeant had been seriously wounded and removed from the battle, so Captain Turner promoted Bobby to First Sergeant.

Bravo Company was seriously beat up from Operation Billings, so First Sergeant Gilbert spent the next two months getting the company back into combat shape, then rotated home as his tour of duty was over.

He went back to Vietnam in 1969 and was there a month and was wounded. He spent a month in the hospital in Japan and finished out his tour in Korea.

During his career as a soldier, he was awarded 4 Bronze Stars, The Air Medal, The Purple Heart, The CIB with Star and two Vietnamese medals for gallantry.

First Sergeant Bobby Gilbert retired from the Army in 1973 after 21 years of service. He then taught ROTC at Ohio University. Bobby and his wife Donna had been married for over 50 years. The Gilberts lived in Eastern Ohio and they have one child - a daughter, Jennifer, who lives nearby in West Virginia. Bobby's health had not that good his latter years, as he has had by pass surgery twice, surgery on both carotid arteries, congestive heart failure, eye surgery three times, PTSD, and two strokes. He had high blood pressure, diabetes, and glaucoma, and wa supposed to be confined to a wheelchair. But, you just can't keep a good Black Lion down: Bobby's wife Donna once related to me that she just returned from a trip to the store, only to discover that Bobby had been in the attic - he climbed into the attic by way of a ladder in the garage. Donna had everything in the attic brought down so that Bobby wouldn't have an excuse to do that again.

Bobby liked to garden, and he and his pet dog were in the garden daily, checking on his flowers and vegetables. His daughter Jennifer lived nearby and checked on her dad regularly. Bobby's oldest grandson, Matthew, enlisted in the Army and took his basic training at the same facility that Bobby did - Fort Jackson, South Carolina, some 50 years later.

Bobby and his wife both passed away a few years ago, after this article was originally written. It had been a real pleasure for me to renew my acquaintence with First Sergeant Gilbert, and to get to know Mrs. Gilbert and their daughter Jennifer. With out them, I could not have been able to put this article together about First Sergeant Gilbert. I cannot express what a pleasure it was for me for me personally to renew contact with a man I much admired and am indebted to. Thanks, Top, for taking time with a young twink who just arrived in Vietnam back in June of 1967. I will miss you, but I know how lucky I was to be back in contact with you after all those years. Black Lions, Sir!

See Pictures of Bobby Gilbert and his family today.

See next archived Spotlight Page Featuring Other Outstanding Bravo Black Lions Gary Broce

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