Honor
On 25 May 1966, 1st Lt. Robert G. Hunter was shot down over northern Laos on a close air support mission under Operation Barrel Roll. Several rescue attempts were made, but constant ground fire prevented a successful recovery. Later that same fateful day, Lt. Hunter was officially listed as Missing in Action.
It would be June before another rescue attempt would be made at the determination of one man: Master Sergeant Charlie Jones. Operating as a forward air controller deep in county, Jones was determined to rescue the downed pilot after hearing from local villagers that a body had been discovered.
Eventually Jones would retrieve the body of the unknown airman with help of a pilot working in Air America. Jones would not learn the identity of the pilot until twenty eight years later, but Lt. Hunter was on his way home. On 22 July 1966, Lt. Hunter was laid to rest in the city of Douglasville Cemetery East amongst family members.
By August, the recognition of Douglas County’s first casualty from the Vietnam War would be honored with the renaming of the Douglasville-Douglas County Recreation Park‚ fitfully named Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park. The honor would be extended a year later with the unveiling of a stone maker on 4 July, 1967.
Almost thirty years would go by before three men would come together to erect a memorial of greater magnitude.
Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park
In June of 1956 the City of Douglasville took the steps to construct the City Park by forming a five member commission. The commission was responsible for establishing the park project, conduct activities, and maintaining operations under an annual budget. Later the Douglasville Recreation Commission would be under the leadership of Ike S. Owings.
Owings would be key to the ultimate development of the park, producing a community house, recreation center and pool. By the mid-1960s a grudge match between the City of Douglasville and Douglas County over the sole purpose of the park, including the name, would come under scrutiny. Differences were set aside when both local governments decided to rename the park after the late Lt. Robert Hunter.
Veterans Memorial
Dedicated on 25 May 1998, exactly 32 years to the day when Lt. Hunter was shot down, the Veterans Memorial serves as both a place to recognize the fallen and the gateway to Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park. Under the authority of Ben Harper, Keith Williams, and Earl Cosgrove, these men came together in order to acquire one of five remaining F-105D left in the county at Daivs-Monthan Air Force Base.
Veterans of the 116th Tactical Fighter Wing aided in the reconstruction of the F-105D during the spring of 1998. Today the Veterans Memorial pays homage to those servicemen who perished during combat and for those that did not have the luxury of returning home.
Other Remembrances
- August 1-3, 1966 - The Douglasville City Park is renamed Robert G. Hunter Memorial Park after Lt. Hunter’s death three months prior
- July 4, 1967 - A stone memorial is erected at Hunter Memorial Park for Lt. Hunter’s service and sacrifice, as well as honoring those perished servicemen of previous combat operations
- November 13, 1982 - Lt. Hunter’s name is engraved on the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial on Panel 7E, Row 109 - Washington, D.C.
- 1991 - Lt. Hunter’s name is engraved on the Wall South Memorial on Panel 45, Row 90 at Veterans Memorial Park - Pensacola, FL
- May 25, 1998 - An F-105D is on display at the Veterans Memorial in Hunter Memorial Park with Lt. Hunter’s name beneath the canopy and engraved in marble on a plaque
- September 14, 2003 - Vietnam Veterans of America, Post 935, is renamed to the Robert G. Hunter Memorial Chapter
- 2004 - Lt. Hunter’s name was 1 of the over 1 million names placed on the STARDUST spacecraft to explore Comet Wild 2
- Spring 2004 - Lt. Hunter’s name is included as part of the In Memoriam section of The Citadel graduation
