In Remembrance Of Bob Rudolph

This post is dedicated to Navy Lt. Jr. Grade Robert “Bob” Rudolph who at age 23 made the ultimate sacrifice for his country while flying reconnaissance over Vietnam.

I was good friends with his younger brother, Alan, so knew Bob because of our friendship.

Bob didn’t have a college degree but was accepted into a special Naval pilot training because of his math and other academic skills.

I remember a couple of times when he called Alan and said to watch the sky over their home because he would do a flyover at an estimated time after his call. Sure enough, he would appear in his Navy jet and one time he broke the sound barrier. I think he got a reprimand, but it was so long ago I don’t remember for sure.

His reconnaissance-equipped plane was equipped with a high-resolution camera that took photos at one-second intervals. While home on leave one time, he showed Alan and me photos he took while making a typical carrier landing. 

The first photo showed the aircraft carrier at a far distance, and very small. A few shots later the carrier quickly got bigger and BIGGER as he landed his plane.

Alan and I carpooled to UCLA and I usually drove because I had a part-time job that qualified me for a parking permit in a prime area close to our classes. We had early classes, so when we got back to Alan’s house his Mom would usually make lunch for us, and she made absolutely delicious sandwiches.

She would often share how worried she was about Bob as he flew his missions gathering intelligence data while flying over Vietnam.

One afternoon I received a call from Alan, who told me Bob had been killed in action. We later learned from his wingman that they flew in low over a certain area and his plane was hit on the right wing, flipped, and went in hard. There was no way he survived.

Years later, his remains were found and returned. A small ceremony was held in San Diego, and as Alan put it, “They Planted A Tree.”

Bob was a great guy who loved fast planes and fast cars. When I worked at a local gas station, he would bring his high-powered grey ’58 Mercury, with a Police Interceptor engine, in and put it up on the rack to make minor tweaks.

While flying for the Navy, he bought a beautiful burgundy red ’62 Chevrolet Corvette. Whenever I see one and every Memorial Day I think of Bob, a great guy who made the ultimate sacrifice for the country he loved.