THE ALBIA UNION-REPUBLICAN
Albia, Iowa
Thursday, 14 March 1968, Page 1


Robert Comstock Killed in Vietnam

Sgt. Robert James Comstock, 22, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Comstock of Lovilia this week became the second Monroe County soldier to die in the war in Vietnam.

Comstock, who was serving with the 9th Infantry Division in the Saigon area, was killed by enemy fire last Saturday, March 9.

His parents were notified by a U.S. Army representative and Sheriff W. F. Bagley Wednesday evening and additional information on his death was expected today. The body will be returned to Lovilia for funeral services and burial, but the time of the return is not yet known.

Ironically, the first U.S. serviceman from Monroe County to die in Vietnam was also a Lovilia resident. He was Cpl. Marvin E. Gordon, 19, of the U.S. Marine Corps, who died there Sept. 17, 1967, of carbon monoxide exhaust fumes from a weapons carrier. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gordon.

Sgt. Comstock had received his latest promotion just 10 days before he was killed in action and his latest letter to his parents told of that promotion.

Sgt. Comstock was born May 22, 1945, in Grinnell, the son of Robert and Lorraine Tice Comstock. He moved with the family to the Albia area in December 1946. He was graduated from Albia Community High School in 1963.

He enlisted in the U.S. Army following his graduation, but was discharged because of a leg injury sustained in high school. However, on Sept. 8, 1965 he enlisted in the U.S. Army, receiving his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. He served in Germany for 13 months and re-enlisted and was sent to Vietnam, arriving there Oct 26. 1967.

He is survived by his parents and 12 brothers and sisters, Barbara, 20, in nurses training at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines; Dennis, 19, in St. Charles, Ill.; and Jerry, 21, Mary, 17, John, 16, Kathy, 15, Jeff, 12, Joe, 11, Jeanne Anne, 8, Marie, 6, Mike, 4, and Milo, 3, all at home. Also surviving are his paternal grandmother, Mrs. Margaret Comstock, 53 13th Ave. W., and his maternal grandparents, F.L. Tice of Kansas City and Mrs. Dora Love.