Medal of Honor recipient Robert Willard Hartsock (January 24, 1945 – February 23, 1969) was born in Cumberland, Maryland. He grew up in Hewitt, Pennsylvania, and graduated from nearby Everett High School in 1962. In 1967, during the Vietnam War, he was working for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in Fairmont when he enlisted in the Army.

Infantry Operations and Intelligence Specialist (posthumously promoted to staff sergeant) Hartsock began his tour in Vietnam on May 17, 1968. He served as a section leader with the 44^th Infantry Platoon Scout Dog (IPSD), 3^rd Brigade, 25^th Infantry Division. His assignment was to lead a scout dog, a German shepherd, on “point,” patrolling in a dangerous position ahead of the rest of the unit. These types of dogs were used to locate potential explosives, tripwires, and other possible ambushes.

At 11.30 p.m. on February 22, 1969, and continuing into the next morning, Hartsock’s base camp in Dau Tieng was attacked by heavy enemy rockets and mortar fire. He and his platoon commander, isolated from their platoon, saw a North Vietnamese engineering squad (known as sappers), which had secretly entered the camp. The enemy soldiers were heading toward important areas, including the battalion’s tactical operations center and a nearby prisoner compound. Recognizing the danger, Hartsock and his commander hid and waited, even though they were badly outnumbered.

When the enemy came close, they opened fire. During the fight, a wounded enemy soldier threw a powerful explosive charge to within a few yards of their position. Hartsock immediately threw himself onto the explosive and was seriously wounded by the blast. He crawled several meters to a ditch and continued firing, keeping the enemy pinned down and giving his commander time to reach safety. Hartsock kept firing until he died from his wounds. Afterward, his commander recommended him for the Medal of Honor.

On August 6, 1970, President Richard Nixon personally presented the medal to Hartsock’s son Dion and family. He is the only dog handler in U.S. military history to earn the medal. Hartsock is buried in the Rocky Gap Veterans Cemetery in Flintstone, Maryland.

In 2019, director Jim Higgins released the documentary Forgotten Heroes: The Robert Hartsock Story. A statue of Hartsock and his dog Duke, killed on the same day, stands in Bedford, Pennsylvania.