Robert
Kingston
Kingston
LTC · HQ ·
Known as "Barbwire Bob"
In-Country Service
1970-04-27 – 1970-07
Home of Record
Brookline, Massachusetts
Character of Service
Honorable
Archive Status
Active
Primary sources: Arlington National Cemetery biography; Hall of Valor (Military Times), recipient-5078; U.S. Central Command founding commander bio; Washington Post obituary (1 March 2007).
1966-11-22
Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Cross — Action of 22–24 November 1966
While commanding elements of the 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 3d Brigade, 25th Infantry Division on a search and destroy mission, Kingston's two companies made contact with the forward positions of a Viet Cong battalion. He landed by helicopter and assumed control of ground operations. When the lead company was pinned down by intense automatic weapons fire, Kingston — with complete disregard for his safety — charged a wounded Viet Cong and wrestled a weapon from him. Firing the captured weapon, he then led an assault on the hostile positions and forced the insurgents to flee. Throughout the three-day period he repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire to encourage his troops and direct air strikes and artillery against the Viet Cong emplacements, inspiring his men to defeat a numerically superior force.
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