SSGT Bob Slaughter - 29th Ranger Battalion

NC Ranger dad · Post by **NC Ranger dad** » May 29th, 2012, 3:00 am

Bob Slaughter of Roanoke, VA has died.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/breaking/wb/309466

Prior to his early morning landing on Omaha Beach with D-Co, 116th INF, Bob was a Ranger with the 29th Ranger Battalion during its short existence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/29th_Range ... ed_States)

Bob was the driving force behind the establishment of the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA.
http://www.dday.org/
A good summary (written in 1999) of his background and efforts in that regard may be found here:
http://www.roanoke.com/dday/recollectio ... ions3.html
Bob's book may be found here:
http://www.omahabeachandbeyond.com/

Yet another WWII Soldier has crossed over and will be sorely missed by his Family and Friends. He was friends with Dick Winters, Len Lomell, Carwood Lipton, and Franz Goekel, all of whom preceded him in death. Many have learned about Bob through his appearances on the History Channel and/or The Military Channel.

Al "Spoony" Sponheimer (a Medic with A-Battery, 197th AAA - down the beach from Bob on 06June) met Bob in 2007 and will be present on Omaha Beach next Wed, 06June2012. Spoony will Remember Bob from The Beach - along with his own Comrades-in-Arms and those he treated That Day, sixty-eight years ago.

And so it goes ...
NC Ranger dad

The goal of one’s journey through life should not be to travel carefully so as to arrive at The End in a well preserved body. Rather, one should live Boldly and strive to skid-in sideways, smiling but completely worn out, while shouting, “WHEW … That was a HELLUVA Ride !!”

blueline73 · Post by **blueline73** » May 31st, 2012, 5:30 pm

SSG Slaughter truly was a great American. One of the moments that has had the greatest impact on me was hearing SSG Slaughter speak to my battalion (1-116th INF...Bob's old unit) before we departed for Iraq.

If anybody on this site lives within reasonable distance, and hasn't been, it is well worth your time to check out the National D-Day memorial in Bedford. The last time I was there, the staff was telling me that they have been having a hard time making ends meet, and can use all the help they can get. Not being a national monument, the Memorial operates primarily on revenue from visitor fees, and private contributions. You can also pick up a copy of SSG Slaughter's book, "Beyond Omaha Beach" at the memorial gift shop. Ever Forward.

CharlieRanger1FFV · Post by **CharlieRanger1FFV** » May 31st, 2012, 10:13 pm

Rest in Peace, Ranger.

RLTW!!!

NC Ranger dad · Post by **NC Ranger dad** » June 4th, 2012, 10:51 am

Had the Honor and Privilege of attending Bob Slaughter's funeral this past weekend. Mrs. Slaughter was presented The Flag by a Major General and many Young Troopers - along with several dozen Men from the 29th Division Association - were in attendance.

Bob was a Strong, Simple and Straightforward Man. Following is email exchange from 2010 when our own Soldier completed Ranger School. Bob was 85 when he sent the following simple and To-The-Point email -It Speaks Volumes Across the Decades, as all who are here know:

On May 17, 2010, NC Ranger dad wrote to Bob Slaughter:

30 second GO call rec'd at 2339hrs Sunday evening ... Because you are in our Ranger Family - you have earned the right to know ...
Fort Benning 21May for Graduation of Ranger Class 06-10 ...
Don't lose touch ...
RLTW ...
R

---------------------------

Subject: Re: Ranger GO GO GO !!!
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 11:39:16 -0500 (CDT)
From: Bob Slaughter
To: NC Ranger dad

Rangers lead the way! Bob Slaughter

NC Ranger dad · Post by **NC Ranger dad** » June 6th, 2012, 10:27 am

Bob Slaughter's Family asked that, in lieu of flowers, Remembrances be sent to the National D-Day Memorial - which Bob spearheaded ( http://www.dday.org ) . Upon checking that site this evening - 06June2012 - the following message appeared online:

Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Apache/2.2.21 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.21 OpenSSL/0.9.8e-fips-rhel5 mod_bwlimited/1.4 Server at http://www.dday.org Port 80
--------------------------------
HOW AWESOME IS THAT !

RangerX · Post by **RangerX** » June 6th, 2012, 9:59 pm

That link was posted in a number of D-Day articles yesterday as well. It is a shame that the hosting company that handles that site doesn't have the foresight to see that it might be a good idea to boost the limit during the anniversary month.

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