SP 4 Robert Sherman Prieser 5th Special Forces Group, Airborne, 1st Special Forces,
Republic Of Vietnam, KIA 8 September 1968

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A FATHER'S TRIBUTE TO HIS FALLEN WARRIOR


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Military service as a family tradition has been handed down from regiments forever. There is no greater pride enjoyed by a father and mother, nor a higher calling to patriotism, than to have a son answer the summons to serve his countrymen in time of war. Conversely, no pain, no anguish and no suffering can be as great, as deep nor as long lasting, as to have that son lost in combat.

Colonel Dale E. Prieser, U.S. Army (Ret), composed the accompanying poem as a tribute to his fallen warrior son, Specialist Fourth Class Robert Sherman Prieser, U.S. Army.

Robert, born in Sidney, OH on Aug. 6, 1948, entered active service on June 20, 1966. After completing Airborne and Special Forces Training, he was assigned to the Army's Elite 5th Special Forces Group Airborne, 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam. On Sept. 8, 1968, Robert was killed in action while leading a reinforcing element of Strike Force soldiers on the beleaguered Ha Thanh Special Forces Camp, I Corps, Republic of Vietnam.

Robert's father, Dale, composed a poem and mailed it to his grieving wife, Barbara, while he was serving his second tour In Country, in the Que Son Mountain region of Vietnam.

Dale and Barbara now reside in San Antonio, TX.



He was tall, handsome,
And very straight,
He kidded the girls
On every date.

And then he was grown,
Yet only a teen,
He went to Vietnam
To help fulfill a dream.

He wore his beret
And wings so proud,
The patch on his shoulder
He was even more proud.

He fought in the valleys
And mountains so high,
And walked the trails
That many had died.

And when Ha Thanh
Was under siege,
He led the fight
For what he believed.

And when he died
That September day,
God said, "Give me your hand,
I will show you the way."

Dale Prieser







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