by

Josh Duey

    Robert J. Hibbs was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 24, 1943. As a child, he missed school frequently due to sore tonsils. [1] This is when his love for creating model military miniatures began. He spent hours painting these model soldiers and accumulated about 1000 miniatures during his brief life. [2] While Hibbs was still a boy, his family moved first to Cedar Rapids and then to Cedar Falls, where Robert attended high school. [3] While at Cedar Falls High School he participated in the student forum. [4] After graduating from high school, Hibbs enrolled at the State Teachers’ College of Iowa, now the University of Northern Iowa, where he majored in history. [5] He graduated three years later in 1964 with a G.P.A. of 3.2. A few months later he had a chance to fulfill his dreams for the military after he enlisted in the army in August 1964. [6]

    After training camp, Hibbs became a second lieutenant of the 2nd battalion of the 28th infantry of the 1st Infantry Division. [7] He participated in numerous military excursions during the war but none quite so memorable as the day of March 5, 1966. Near Don Dien Lo Re, Hibbs and his 15 men were on ambush patrol when he spotted a company of Viet Cong maneuvering along a road towards them. [8] After radioing his command post, he placed two mines in the enemy’s path. As the Viet Cong arrived, he set off the mines killing and wounding half of the enemy force. [9] While Hibbs’ men were withdrawing he remained behind to hurl grenades and fire upon the enemy, who still numbered about 50 men. [10] Amazingly, Hibbs survived to return to his defense perimeter, only to find another Viet Cong band in the midst of attacking his men. He then decided to surprise attack the enemy forces with the help of his men. After nearly reaching safety returning from this attempt, Hibbs noticed that one of his men lay wounded between the two enemy forces. Though already wounded in the leg, he took a fellow sergeant and went back to rescue the wounded solider. [11] Eluding machine gunfire, the sergeant dragged the wounded soldier to safety as Hibbs provided cover fire. Armed with only a M16 and a rifle, he charged the Viet Cong machine guns. This time Hibbs fell, mortally wounded. [12] 

    On Saturday, March 5, 1966 at 4:30 P.M., Hibbs’s parents heard a knock at their door. Lieut. Col. Calvin Kusler spoke with a somber voice as he informed them of their son’s death. [13] Soon afterwards Robert’s father remembered his son with pride: "I’m not sad -- I’m proud…It seems as if this was his destiny…All his life he wanted to be a soldier -- He had toy soldiers which he put through tactical maneuvers…". [14] Mrs. Hibbs took solace in her son’s reputation in the army: "A colonel told me he had been in the service 20 years and ‘your son is the bravest man I ever saw’." [15] Robert Hibbs’s life was cut short by war, destroying his dreams of law school and marriage to his fiancée, Lynne Larson. [16] Nevertheless, Hibbs’s memory lives on in his hometown. He is remembered as the first casualty of the Vietnam War from Cedar Falls. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the only Iowan involved in the Vietnam War to obtain such an honor. [17] Hibbs’s parents received the award at ceremonies at Fort Meyer, VA, on Jan. 26, 1966. [18] A plaque hangs in the Maucker Union at UNI in memory of Hibbs and his attainment of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Inscripted on it are the words spoken by President Lyndon B. Johnson:

    Lt. Hibbs’ conspicuous gallantry, his profound concern for his fellow soldiers, and his intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty is in the highest traditions of the United States Army and reflects great credit upon himself and the armed forces of his country. [19]

    The new Main Street bridge in Cedar Falls was named after Hibbs in 1994. AMVETS, American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars led the effort to name the bridge after him. [20] On December 27, 1994, the bridge was dedicated the Lt. Robert J. Hibbs Medal of Honor Bridge in memory of Hibbs and other Cedar Falls men who sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War. [21]

Footnotes 

1. Nick Lamberto, "The Background of a Medal of Honor Man," Des Moines Register, 28 May 1967, 4. 

2. Ibid. 

3. Ibid, 5. 

4. "Cedar Falls Youth 1st Local Viet Nam Victim; Lieut. Hibbs Killed in Battle Sat.A.M.," Cedar Falls Record, 7 March 1966, 1. 

5. Lamberto, 5. 

6. Cedar Falls Record,1. 

7. Lamberto, 5. 

8. Ibid. 

9. Ibid. 

10. Ibid,7. 

11. Ibid. 

12. Ibid. 

13. Cedar Falls Record, 1. 

14. Ibid. 

15. Lamberto, 7. 

16. Ibid. 

17. Ibid,4. 

18. Ibid. 

19. Hibbs Memorial Plaque, Hemisphere Lounge, Maucker Union, U.N.I. 

20. Debora Blume, "Vets want new bridge named for Vietnam hero," Waterloo Courier, 21 November 1993, D2. 

21. Kevin M. Born, "Bridge honors vet," Waterloo Courier, 7 January 1994, B8. 
 

Bibliography  

Blume, Debora, "Vets want new bridge named for Vietnam hero," Waterloo Courier, November, 21,1993, D2. 

Born, Kevin M., "Bridge honors vet," Waterloo Courier, January 7, 1994, B8. 

Cedar Falls Tiger, High School Yearbook. Cedar Falls: Iowa, 1961.18, 67. 

"Cedar Falls Youth 1st Local Viet Nam Victim; Lieut. Hibbs Killed in Battle Sat. A.M.," Cedar Falls Record, March 7, 1966,1. 

Hibbs Memorial Plaque, Hemisphere Lounge, Maucker Union, U.N.I. 

Lamberto, Nick, "The Background of a Medal of Honor Man," Des Moines Register May 28, 1967, 4-7.Old Gold 1964, State College of Iowa. Cedar Falls: Iowa, 1964,134. 

Plaque on Main Street Bridge.