West Virginia State Archives
Remember...
Robert Jameson Barton
1948-1971
"What is astonishing about the social history of the Vietnam war is not how many avoided it, but how many could not and did not."
John Gregory Dunne
West Virginia State Archives |
Remember...Robert Jameson Barton
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| Miami-Dade County, Florida, is credited for being the home of record for Vietnam casualty First Lieutenant Robert Jameson ("Jamie") Barton. But 1st Lt. Barton was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and spent the early years of his life in that city, sharing a home with his parents, William A. Barton Jr. and Eula Pat Droullard Barton, and his younger sister Rebecca. |  A young Jamie Barton. Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund |
 The grocery store of William Aaron Barton Sr. served the Bridge Road neighborhood in South Hills. Barton Family Collection (Ph2018-007), West Virginia State Archives |
Born on October 7, 1948, Jamie grew up in the area of the city known as South Hills, where his grandfather owned a grocery store. Jamie would attend elementary school at Fernbank, a typical neighborhood school in the middle of the 20th century. |
But West Virginia's loss was Florida's gain. A graduation announcement from Southwest Miami High School indicates that Jamie graduated from there in 1965. [Much of the material in this section of the biography is attributable to the Barton Family Collection at the West Virginia State Archives (Ms2018-007). This collection, donated to the West Virginia State Archives upon Jamie's mother's death, contains a wealth of family information going back several generations. Grade cards, graduation programs, and the Southwest Miami High School 1965 yearbook provide a glimpse into Jamie's school achievements. Certificates note milestone events in his life. In addition, there are numerous slides chronicling Jamie's brief military career.]
From high school, Jamie attended the University of Florida, where he received an Associate of Arts degree in 1968. In 1970, he received a bachelor's degree from the university, where he was also commissioned as a second lieutenant, having been trained there in the ROTC program. He went straight into the U.S. Army Primary Helicopter School at Fort Wolters in Texas, then it was on to the U.S. Army Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, where he graduated as a rotary wing [helicopter] aviator in March 1971. In January of that year, he had requested an overseas assignment, which at the time meant certain deployment to Vietnam.
| Clearly, Jamie had held a vision all along of how he anticipated his military career would unfold. He was excited about helicoptering and parachuting, writing to his parents in November 1968 that he had soloed -- well before completing his ROTC program and entering helicopter school! |  Jamie Barton beside his helicopter. Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund |
Throughout the rigorous training program he endured, 1st Lt. Barton won the respect of his fellow students, instructors, and officers. Numerous posts on the "Remembrances" section of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's "Wall of Faces" indicate just how highly those comrades-in-arms thought of him. (Accessed 7 February 2020, https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/2766/ROBERT-J-BARTON/page/3/.) Below are just a few:
Jamie and I studied together and enjoyed many days at the University of Florida activities, studying and parachuting.We also shared a deep love, caring for others, sports jumping and Military service. Our set path shared seemed so bright. On graduating he gifted me his snoopy hand colored chute and it enjoyed many jumps going on to another young nurse jumper years later.
Our roads parted we hoped for a short time as he prepared to be a LT flying his beloved helicopters while I completed my basic and started my army nurse LT service. Together we graduated and moved forward to serve never guessing one of us would die so suddenly so young. I will never forget that phone call or returned letter marked unable to deliver addressee deceased. I continued in the army and always felt I served for Jamie and myself. Jamie's kindness, strength, smile and quiet courage never fade in my mind but remain crystal clear! At each of five promotions I silently celebrated sending a prayer that this was mine and his. Again at my retirement I felt our shared tour was over.
We lost you too young Jamie but live on in each of our minds and hearts! Thank you for enriching my life and the lessons your loss taught me and I was able to employ helping other soldiers and families including our own POW returnees at Valley Forge. (Barbara Glenn Covington, Colonel, U.S. Army Nurse Corps Retired, Ph. D., RN, 28 May 2017)
From Rich Mouldin:
In 1965 Jamie and I were freshmen at the University of Florida, and both members of the Army ROTC Precision Drill Team, the Gator Guard. Spending the extra hours necessary to be a part of that special unit together, quickly turned us into "Good Buddies". I have so many memories of him, but honestly, most of those memories are just mine, somewhat un-extraordinary, and maybe not worth the space in cyberspace to share. What I will share is Jamie's "love of country" and commitment to serve. That wasn't especially easy back then, but there was no doubt in Jamie's resolve. (17 October 2015)
David M. Henson was Jamie's instructor, colleague, and friend. He writes:
Jamie was one of my sky diving students at the University of Florida and a close friend. We traveled all over Florida drop zones to make jumps. He made a water jump with me into "Alligator Lake" for my D license. I asked him if there was a reason they called it that name and he said "don't worry about it we will probably drown anyway." Before he deployed to Vietnam he came to me to let me hold on to his sky diving rig (a ParaCommander) while he was In Country. I had never jumped a PC so we swapped rigs and made a 30 sec. free fall together. That was April 17, 1971, my 297th jump, I never saw him again after that day however his parents kept me informed of how he was doing as a Helo pilot. He would send them slide shows. I was told he was killed in a crash while trying to fly a Helo inland from an oncoming storm. I miss him just about everyday especially at the DZ. My first son is named Robert after Robert "Jamie" Barton. (15 August 2011)
 Jamie makes a parachute jump. Barton Family Collection (Ph2018-007), West Virginia State Archives |
Fellow student Pat Moore writes:
Jamie and I were members of the University of Florida Parachuting Club in the mid 1960s. I enlisted in the Air Force and he became a helicopter pilot in the Army. His life ended far too short. His irrepressible grin is hard to forget. What's hard to conceive is that more than four decades have passed since his untimely death. He is still missed. (28 August 2013) |
Jamie began his tour of Vietnam in May 1971. As part of the Americal Division (176th Assault Helicopter Company, 14th Aviation Battalion, 16th Aviation Group), his Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) was Rotary Wing Aviator (Aircraft Unit Commander). Stationed at Chu Lai, by October he had tallied 2,161 flight hours. That month, his life would be tragically cut short when he died in a helicopter crash at Quang Tín, South Vietnam. The incident would be officially recorded by the U.S. Army as DNB -- died non-battle. A detailed account of the accident is found on the website of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association:
On the evening of 17 October 1971, Aircraft UH-1H, SN: 68-15237 was being flown on the night perimeter mission for the Chu Lai Defense Commande. The mission entailed flying at 300 feet MSL or below, checking the perimeter with landing and search light. Lt Barton took off at 2230 hours, although he had attempted to remain on 5 minute standby because he felt the weather was too bad to fly. Arriving back on station it was found that the weather was not as bad as was believed, and the mission was continued. Prior to midnight the aircraft was landed and refueled. After arriving back on station, it was found that the weather was deteriorating and it was decided, after a radio transmission with the division tactical operations center, to return to the airfield and remain on 5 minute standby after one more patter around the perimeter. On the northern perimeter, which is bordered by the ocean, it is necessary to fly over the water. Then [When] the aircraft reached this point on the perimeter, it was reported by W1 Pate that a loud thump was heard. The aircraft commander stated, "Don't worry, we only hit a bird. I hit one last night." W1 Pate leaned to his right and lowered his head to look at the engine instruments to see if there were any abnormal instrument readings. During the time he had his head lowered, the aircraft struck the water. W1 Pate remembered the airspeed indicator reading 80 knots just prior to the accident. The crash was heard by a bunker guard on duty approximately 300 meters from the side. He reported the mishap to this [his] superiors, who in turn reported it to division and a search and rescue was put into motion. Two medivac aircraft were dispatched along with a flair ship. The weather was extremely hazardous and the wreckage was never located. The sole survivor was not rescued until approximately 6 hours later, some 4000 meters south of the crash site. ("Helicopter UH-1H 68-15237," Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, 26 May 2019, accessed 4 February 2020, https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/incident/711018011ACD.HTM.)
Killed in the incident, along with 1st Lt. Barton, were SP4 Shelton Wesley Stewart and SP4 Patrick John Breslin. W1 Pate, referred to in the accident report, was injured but rescued.
| Although a number of sources refer to Miami, Florida, as being the location of his burial, Jamie's Find A Grave memorial (ID #67599885) points to Graceland Memorial Park in South Charleston as his final resting place. He received a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and an Air Medal. His Bronze Star citation reads: "For meritorious achievement in ground operations against hostile forces in Vietnam from 3 May 1971 to 18 October 1971." |  Bronze Star |
 Purple Heart |
 Air Medal |
For a more comprehensive view of the Barton family's contributions, going back two generations, one needs to peruse the Barton Family Collection (Ms2018-007) at the West Virginia State Archives. The collection contains not only textual but also visual and audio materials. A large collection of slides includes a narration of what Jamie experienced in his day-to-day life in Vietnam. A picture of Jamie emerges of a man who was deeply engaged with the people he met on his tour. But he also had a sense of humor, as his friends and colleagues noted. The Barton Family Collection serves as a memorial to a life that ended too soon.
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure
August 2021
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.