THE WALL OF FACES

It hit me during our approach to reunion that I have had a good life since graduation but you were cut so very short.
A golf friend of mine who is also an Air Force pilot summed it up for me - "My F-16 unit was charged with the FAC-A mission, as well as Close Air Support. I assure you that your friend’s ethos burns brightly in our US Air Force combat units. Friday nights in a fighter squadron consisted of 2 sure things:
1. Get really drunk, and
2. Sing (dirty) songs. Many of these songs were about the heroism of FACs in Vietnam.

FACs lived their lives in harms way so our 18-year olds with rifles stood a better chance of returning home to mom and dad. (Some refer to it as “the Lord’s work”) Your friend, Bob/Bubba, dipped back under the weather to take one last look. Doesn’t sound like he needed to…but I’ll bet he knew that doing so could save some good-guy lives in the coming hours/days/weeks.

Sounds like a hero to me, Jack. Raising a glass to Bubba this Memorial Day.

Yes, raising a glass for you, Captain Hauer and I will go out of my way to laugh until the tears come down remembering our good times, but also your heroism.

I will always miss you.

Jack

I miss you to this day, Bob. We were both from Brookline, MA and we loved football, but in our college days the rising of BC basketball under Head Coach Bob Cousy was our king. We were best friends in college.
We both had healthy senses of humor, and we coped with the craziness of the 60’s by trying to introduce levity into serious matters. But, of course, that was virtually impossible.
Both facing the Draft, you joined the Air Force and became a Forward Air Control Pilot (FAC) in Vietnam and I joined the Army, trained at Fort Dix NJ and Infantry OCS at Ft. Benning (now Ft. Moore), GA eventually being (by luck of the draw) assigned as a 1st Lieutenant to the 7th Infantry Division, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Camp Casey, Tongduchon (TDC) [Dongducheon], South Korea, commanded by Major General Harold G. (Hal) Moore himself ("We Were Soldiers Once, and Young" - Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam). I was not in harm's way during my tour like you were.

When I learned you were MIA in September 1970, my Air Force (Vietnam Vets) pilot friends at Camp Casey informed me at the time that Air Force Intelligence indicated that your plane was shot down and seen plummeting into triple canopy jungle with no beeper detected, nor parachute observed.

How very sad and heartbreaking. You were and still are a true hero.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. It remains my fervent hope you will be returned home after the passage of so many years.

On 5 September 1970, then 1st Lt. Robert D. Hauer was the pilot of an O2A, call sign "Cutie 24," that departed Cam Ranh Bay Airbase at 0915 hours on an single aircraft Forward Air Control (FAC) mission. He was to control a set of F100 fighters, call sign "Dusty 61," on a pre-briefed attack against a known enemy target. 1st Lt. Hauer proceeded to the target area to familiarize himself with it before rendezvousing with Dusty flight.
Once all aircraft were on station, Robert Hauer directed the fighters' attack on that enemy position located in rugged jungle covered mountains approximately 14 miles southwest of Duc My, 24 miles northwest of Nha Trang and 34 miles nothwest of Cam Ranh Bay, Khanh Hoa Province, South Vietnam. An additional terrain feature was a prominent east/west flowing river winding through the middle of the strike area. By 1050 hours, after expending all ordnance, Dusty 61 was off target and returning to base.
1st Lt. Hauer conducted a Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) evaluation, the result of which he called in at 1130 hours. He then told Cutie Control that he was going back down to take another look at the ground, but did not see any additional enemy activity in or around the strike location. Robert Hauer's last transmission came at 1149 hours when he requested a time hack from the control center. Weather conditions consisted of broken clouds at 4500 feet, 6-mile visibility and winds at 10 knots from 160 degrees.
At 1410 hours, a full-scale search and rescue (SAR) operation was initiated. Cutie 34 was diverted to the area of the airstrike to coordinate the visual search. Those efforts continued until darkness made it impossible to do so any longer. A systematic search pattern commenced at first light and continued until 11 September. At that time the formal SAR operation was terminated when no trace of the aircraft or its pilot could be found. Robert Hauer was immediately listed Missing in Action.

Captain Robert Douglas Hauer, Served with the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron, 504th Tactical Air Support Group, 7th Air Force.