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Nett served in 3 wars, earned Medal of Honor

When retired Col. Robert B. Nett, 86, died Oct. 19 in Columbus, Ga., after a short illness, America lost a hero who received an infantry lieutenant’s commission in 1942, was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in combat against the Japanese in World War II, and fought in Korea and Vietnam during 33 years of soldiering.

Born in New Haven, Conn., in June 1922, Nett enlisted in the Connecticut National Guard in 1940, when he was 17. Since the minimum age to enlist was 18, Nett had a problem. But, as he told a television reporter in a recent interview, he took his birth certificate and “folded it real hard on 1922” so that the last digit was unclear. The recruiting sergeant assumed that the young man in front of him was old enough to serve.

Nett was on active duty prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and in the rapid expansion of the Army that followed, then-Pvt. Nett volunteered for Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga.

On Dec. 14, 1944, then-1st Lt. Nett was in the Philippines at Cognon, Leyte, commanding Company E, 305th Infantry Regiment. According to the Medal of Honor citation, Nett led his company in an attack against a reinforced enemy battalion, which had held up the U.S. advance for two days.

Advancing “against heavy enemy machine gun and other automatic weapons fire,” Nett spearheaded the assault against the Japanese. During “the fierce hand-to-hand” combat that followed, he personally killed seven Japanese soldiers with his rifle and bayonet. Nett was seriously wounded during this fighting, but he refused to quit and pressed ahead with his company. He was then wounded a second time, but “gallantly continued to lead his men forward, refusing to relinquish his command.”

In the final assault on the Japanese strongpoint, Nett was wounded a third time. With great presence of mind, he “calmly made all arrangements” for the resumption of the attack, turned over command to another officer and then “walked unaided to the rear for medical treatment for his three wounds.”

After recovering from his wounds, Nett returned to his unit and fought on Okinawa in the spring of 1945. But his heroism in the Philippines was not forgotten. Nett’s determina-tion and leadership resulted in the award of the Medal of Honor in a February 1946 ceremony.

Nett remained in the Army after World War II. According to the Ranger Hall of Fame Web site, Nett helped train South Korean soldiers during the Korean War and, as the inspector general for the Southwestern Area Command, was “responsible for conducting classified missions for General MacArthur’s Far East Headquarters.”

During the Vietnam War, then-Col. Nett served as an adviser to South Vietnam’s 2nd Infantry Division. His last assignment was as the chief of reserve affairs for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Nett retired as a colonel in 1973 with 33 years of active duty, and then became a schoolteacher in Columbus.

Nett was proud of his association with the Rangers. He served several tours with the Ranger Department at Fort Benning and in retirement was frequently invited to lecture at the Ranger Regiment. He was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame in 1997 “for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.”

It was a deserved honor for a true hero. h

Fred L. Borch retired from the Army after 25 years and is the regimental historian for the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps. His e-mail address is borchfj@aol.com. Robert F. Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.