Robert Barnes (1930-2 January 1968) was a US Army Staff Sergeant who served in Bravo Company, US 25th Infantry Division during the Vietnam War.
Biography[]
Bob Barnes was born in 1930, and he enlisted during the US Army during the Vietnam War. He was assigned to Bravo Company in the US 25th Infantry Division, and he was shot seven times during the war, surviving each time, and even acquiring notable scars on the right side of his face. Barnes was eventually promoted to Staff Sergeant and served under Lieutenant Mark Wolfe, competing for power in the squad with Sergeant Elias Gordon, who, unlike the cruel and progressively-insane Barnes, was an idealist.
Their rivalry came to a head when Gordon attacked Barnes in front of the squad after Barnes shot an innocent villager and threatened to kill her daughter during the platoon's involvement in Operation Yellowstone. Gordon planned to testify against Barnes in a court-martial, so Barnes was pressured by some of his squadmates to "frag" (kill with friendly fire) him. On 1 January 1968, he shot Gordon three times during the New Year's Day Battle of 1968, mortally wounding him.
He also cut Gordon's friend, Private Chris Taylor, below the eye with a push knife after Taylor attempted to attack Barnes back at the base. Ultimately, the two would meet again on the second day of the battle, and Barnes was wounded. An insane Barnes attempted to kill Taylor, but both of them were wounded in an airstrike. When they woke up the next morning, Barnes ordered Taylor to call a medic to help him, but Taylor refused. Barnes then ordered Taylor to kill him, and Taylor shot him dead, avenging Gordon and Barnes' innocent victims.