Dubbed the "Mightiest Corporal" by Newsweek and his fellow Marines, Robert Arrotta was born on June 22, 1946 and grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1966. Upon his arrival in Vietnam, Bobby saw action at Con Thien where he witnessed first hand what the North Vietnamese could do in battle. He would later arrive in Khe Sanh and Hill 881s where he served as a forward air controller with India Company, 3rd battalion, 26th Marines, under the command of Captain Bill Dabney. Interestingly enough, Captain Dabney is the son-in-law of the infamous "Chesty Puller".
Bill Dabney, Colonel USMC (Ret), comments on Robert Arrotta -
"Cpl. Arrotta had the official tactical call sign of "India 14" which identified him as the close air support (CAS) representative of the company. The troops, in recognition of the tremendous amount of fire power he was capable of calling to bear on the NVA, referred to him as "The Mightiest Corporal in the World." Corporal Arrotta remained our Forward Air Controller (FAC) for the entire siege, directed about 300 CAS missions, all Supergaggles, and in coordination with the helicopter support team (HST), all medical evacuations. Hell of a Marine! Got end-of-tour Bronze Star. Deserved better. Did captain's job superbly under fire for three months."
Robert Arrotta is retired and lives in San Diego, California. |
I was very excited about the trip to Vietnam in July 2000. I had been talking about it since the Khe Sanh Veterans reunion in Washington, D.C. in 1998. As the departure date got closer and closer, I began to feel a lot of anxiety. This was probably due to the fact that I have become very hyperventilate over the years. When I heard about the hiking plans... humping up 861, spending the night, next day swing over about 2 clicks to 881s, spend the night there, then the next day hump to 881n and back to 881s, and finally back to the combat base, I was a little concerned. This would have been difficult when we were 19 or 20 years old. This was going to be a hard and dangerous adventure in 100-degree temperatures. And were we even allowed to hike in these areas, or were they restricted? Well, as it turned out, these areas were restricted, but we didn't realize it until later.
We all made it to hill 861 on the first day, which was "mission complete" for Dennis and Paul. They were both on 861 during the siege. Because of the bad weather, Dennis, Glen, Lanh Anh (our translator) and myself, spent the night on 861 in a Typhoon which was blowing in from the Philippines. The next day, with the weather so bad, we decided to hike back to Khe Sanh Village. As we came out of the hills, local government officials were waiting for us. They took our passports and informed us that we had broken the law. We were supposed to have a guide and official papers, allowing us into the hills. But after signing some papers they let us do our thing.
The next day, before we had to catch our ride to Dong Ha police station for questioning, Dennis went back to hill 861, and Glenn and I headed out to 881s. The weather was miserable and we didn't have enough time to complete the mission. So, I had come all this way and never got to 881s where I had spent my time during the siege. I can't tell you how disappointed I was, missing out on that goal. Even with my disappointment I enjoyed the trip. Vietnam is a beautiful place to visit and the people love Americans.
I did go back to Vietnam 10 months later with Glenn, Paul, David and Lanh Anh. There was also a couple with us, Cookie and Bruce. We got the right permit this time ($600), and we made it to 881s (mission complete).
I was so glad to get to the top of that hill. It was very emotional for me, with the thoughts of buddies and how they died up there. We were on that hill for a couple of hours, but they wouldn't let us spend the night. I don't think we wanted to; it was 105 degrees and no shade. The climb up the hill was very hard, about a 60-degree slope and it took 2 hours. If we tried to climb it in the rain back on the first trip, I don't think we would of made it (too muddy). The top of the hill was so small when we got there, but in 1968 it seemed so big.
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