Bob Hesselbein – Vietnam Historian / Expedition Leader

Bob Hesselbein

Vietnam Historian / Expedition Leader

Robert “Bob” Hesselbein possesses a military career spanning almost thirty years. Beginning as a U.S. Army helicopter gunship pilot flying the AH-1G attack helicopter at the age of nineteen during 1972 combat operations in Vietnam and Cambodia, he later transferred to the U.S. Air Force, and later the Wisconsin Air National Guard, flying A-10 and F-16 jet fighters until his retirement as a lieutenant colonel in 2000. He possesses numerous military awards and is a graduate of the prestigious USAF Weapons Instructor School.

He continues to participate in military legacy activities. He is a former Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Association (VHPA) President, serves on the Wisconsin Board of Veterans Affairs and the 2nd Congressional District Service School Selection Board, and is the senior docent and presenter at the Wisconsin State Veterans Museum.

In 2018, he led the successful effort to place within Arlington National Cemetery a lasting memorial honoring those who died operating helicopters in the Vietnam War, and is a life member of the VHPA, Order of Daedalians, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, Air Force Association and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

A lifelong scholar of 19th and 20th Century warfare, serves him well as a historian for the American History Project, studying and guiding travelers through Europe, Asia and North America. Above, Bob in front of a veteran’s group in Hoi An, Vietnam.