A Note from The Virtual Wall On 26 July 1967 PFC Charles Robert "Bob" Vest was mortally wounded during a firefight while on patrol near Pleiku in South Vietnam, an area that Paul Vest (Bob's Brother) said was known for a lot of action. He said Bob was shot by a sniper. According to an article from timesgazette.com in Hillsboro OH, Robert's brother Paul said: "Quite frankly, he should have died on the battlefield, but he didn't. We don't know why he didn't," Bob went from the battlefield to a field hospital, from there to Saigon, then to Yokohama Japan, San Francisco, Cincinnati and finally Fort Thomas, Kentucky, where he spent the last seven years of his life. Throughout his 7 year struggle, his wife, Marcie Cooper, never gave up hope. The effort to have Vest's name added to The Wall was an even longer struggle because Bob's military records could not be located. The effort was led almost solely by his brother, one of two of the ten Vest children still alive. Paul Vest's struggle began in the mid-1980's when the Traveling Wall visited Portsmouth and he noticed his brother's name wasn't on it. In the 20-plus years since, Paul Vest ran into all kinds of stumbling blocks, so many that at one time he gave up. But he took up the battle again in the 1990's. Paul, also a Vietnam Veteran released from active duty in 1967, had said at one time early in the effort: "It occurred to me that if I didn't do something, it might not happen at all". Paul finally heard in 2010 that Bob Vest's military records had been found and his name would be added to The Wall. On Memorial Day, May 30, 2011, at the annual ceremony at The Wall, the name of Charles Robert Vest was read along with the other names being added, so it finally became 'official'. His brother Paul said the Bob was not one who wanted to draw attention to himself, but he thought that Bob would be grateful to have his named added after all these years.

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Last update 08/15/2019