ROBERT L. LEDBETTER, III, LT, USNR
Robert Ledbetter, III '69
Lucky Bag
From the 1969 Lucky Bag:
ROBERT LEE LEDBETTER
Norfolk, Virginia
Bob came to the Academy from Norfolk, Virginia where he excelled as a horseman, an interest which shall always be a favorite pastime for him. Bob's bubbling enthusiasm never left him at a loss to put down his work and help a classmate. Bob would attribute his joy to his personal faith in Jesus Christ. Fondest In Bob's memories of Annapolis will be those times spent with a certain Crabtown female. Bob's professional interests and his excellent performance as four year member of the YP Squadron will add much to the energies and abilities which will make him a truly outstanding surface line officer.
ROBERT LEE LEDBETTER
Norfolk, Virginia
Bob came to the Academy from Norfolk, Virginia where he excelled as a horseman, an interest which shall always be a favorite pastime for him. Bob's bubbling enthusiasm never left him at a loss to put down his work and help a classmate. Bob would attribute his joy to his personal faith in Jesus Christ. Fondest In Bob's memories of Annapolis will be those times spent with a certain Crabtown female. Bob's professional interests and his excellent performance as four year member of the YP Squadron will add much to the energies and abilities which will make him a truly outstanding surface line officer.
Loss
Bob was a chaplain attached to the 26th Marine Amphibious Unit when the CH-53D he was riding in crashed immediately after taking off from USS Guadalcanal (LPH 7) on October 15, 1985.
From Pop A Smoke:
Camp Lejeune, NC Marine Helicopter Crash, Oct 1985
MARINE 'COPTER DOWN IN SEA.
DIVERS NEARBY -- TOO LATE TO SAVE 15 IN ATLANTIC.Jacksonville, N.C. (AP) -- A team of divers hovering overhead was able to "immediately" reach a helicopter that crashed into the ocean after taking off from a ship, but 15 Marines aboard died in the corps' second-worst aircraft accident, officials say.
Four others were rescued Tuesday when their twin-rotor, Marine CH-46D "Sea Knight" helicopter with 19 people aboard, crashed and sank on takeoff from the USS Guadalcanal.
"This is the second-worst aircraft accident in Marine Corps history," said Gunnery Sgt. John Simmons. "The worst was a CH-53D crash in the Sea of Japan" in May, in which all 17 people aboard were killed.
The helicopter was participating in an exercise with the 26th Marine Amphibious Unit, he said. The CH-46 is the principal assault helicopter of the Marine Corps and also is used extensively by the Navy to carry cargo and passengers between ships and shore.
"It's a very safe aircraft for us. It's real good. It's been in the inventory since Vietnam," Simmons said, adding he had no details of the crash. "It left the ship flying over the water and crashed," he said.
Simmons said a search-and-rescue helicopter with divers aboard was in the air over the ship when the helicopter crashed early Tuesday, so divers were able to get to the wreckage "immediately."
Simmons said 12 of the casualties were Marine troops aboard the helicopter and three others were crew members.
Four Marines were pulled from the choppy waters around the Guadalcanal and one body was found. Navy and Marine divers searched for the 14 missing Marines, whose bodies were found Tuesday afternoon, Simmons said. The bodies were taken to the naval hospital at Camp Lejeune.
The helicopter wreckage would be removed from the ocean floor and taken to either New River Air Station or Cherry Point Marine Air Station for examination by the Marie Aircraft Mishap Board, he said. "They will dismantle it and look at it with a fine-tooth comb."
Early this morning, all the injured were in good condition at a medical dispensary aboard the Guadalcanal, said Sgt Pamela Vajner.
The passengers and crew are based at Camp Lejeune and its New River Air Station, said Staff Sgt. Terry Ruggles, also of the Camp Lejeune public affairs office.
The accident occurred not far from the Marine Corps' Onslow Beach, just east of Camps Geiger and Camp Lejeune, where Marines practice beach landings, but the Marines said the ship's exact location wasn't known.
Other Information
From the January/February 1986 issue of Shipmate:
Lt. Robert Lee Ledbetter III, CHC, USNR, was killed 15 October along with 14 Marines in the crash of a Marine CH-46 helicopter from the USS Guadalcanal, during maneuvers off Onslow Beach, Camp LeJeune, N.C. Chaplain Ledbetter was serving with the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines. He leaves a wife, the former Patsy Kelly of Annapolis, and three children, daughters Corrie, 9, and Karen, 7, and son Daniel, 6.
Born in Watseka, Illinois, he was raised in Norfolk where he graduated high school. He received an appointment to the Naval Academy with the Class of '69. Upon graduation and commissioning on 4 June 1969, Ensign Ledbetter reported to the oceangoing minesweeper USS Skill out of Charleston. He was next assigned to the recommissioning crew of USS Luce (DLG-38) in the yards at Philadelphia, but ultimately homeported in Newport. During 1973 and 1974 he assisted with the inception of the Navy's race relations program in Washington, D.C. After a year at the Pentagon, he resigned his commission.
During his hiatus from active duty, he worked as staff representative of the Officers' Christian Fellowship at the Naval Academy ('75-'77) and at the Coast Guard Academy ('77-'81), and subsequently as youth pastor of First Baptist Church of Wellsboro, Pa., while also serving on the staff of His Thousand Hills Youth Ranch ('81-'82). He earned a Masters of Theological Studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., in 1979, and a Masters of Divinity from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1984. While completing this later degree, he was awarded a fellowship to work in the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Presbyterian Hospital in Philadelphia.
In 1983 Mr. Ledbetter received his (conditional) commission as an ensign in the Theological Student Program and attended the Chaplains School Basic Course in Newport, R.I. during the summer. Upon completion, and ordination, he was commissioned as a Lt. (j.g.) CHC, USNR and was recalled to active duty in June 1984 to serve with 3/4 at Camp LeJeune.
Besides his wife and children, Chaplain Ledbetter is survived by his parents, Cdr. and Mrs. Robert L. Ledbetter, Jr. USN (Ret.) '46, residing in Norfolk; a grandmother; and three sisters. Chaplain Ledbetter was a member of the Officers Christian Fellowship since Midshipman days. A memorial fund in his name has been established with the officers' Christian Fellowship, P.O. Box 1177, Englewood, Colo. 80150.
Remembrances
From "The Legacy of the Class of 1969":
Regrettably, Bob died in an operational accident on October 15, 1985. This narrative was compiled as a memorial for him by several of his classmates with the assistance of his wife.
Bob was so kind and gentle that on first blush he would seem like the plebe least likely to survive an 11th Company “tiger” plebe year.
What would have been missed at first blush was his core of steel and his rock-solid faith in his Lord Jesus Christ. He calmly withstood the rigors of the infamous 11th Company experience and emerged an admired and respected survivor.
The son of a member of the Class of 1946, Bob very well might have been the most gung-ho surface line member of our class, spending four years with the Yard Patrol Craft (YP) squadron.
He married Patsy Kelly on graduation day at Trinity Methodist Church on West Street.
He served initially on an ocean-going minesweeper (MSO) out of Charleston. He transferred to USS Luce (DLG-7) when the MSO was retired. He was next assigned to the Navy Race Relations Program in Washington DC and then to the Pentagon as Assistant Director of the Pentagon Gym. . Upon leaving active duty, the Officers’ Christian Fellowship (OCF) recruited Bob to serve at Maranatha Mansion in Annapolis.
Two years later, he began his studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton MA. He also served on weekends as OCF staff representative at the US Coast Guard Academy.
Following graduation, Bob and Patsy moved to New London CT, where Bob served two years as full-time staff representative. During these years, they adopted two children, Corrie and Karen.
Bob gained much respect while with OCF. A member of the class of 1970 said of Bob, “I admired Bob’s leadership style….[H]e seemed to listen carefully until there was a time for him to speak, but when he had something to say, it was always spot on, clearly and authoritatively presented, and with no further need for persuasion, he let his words stand. I appreciated that, and have tried to apply his communication skill to my own leadership style.”
The Lord was then calling Bob back into the Navy as a chaplain. Needing two more years of seminary to be ordained, Bob enrolled at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary near Philadelphia.
His time as a chaplain was short but impactful. An unsolicited e-mail regarding Chaplain Bob said this about him:
“[In October, 1985,] I was a young Lance Corporal on the USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7)…. [E]veryone in my company had huge respect for [Chaplain Ledbetter]. He never wanted to be left out…. [E]ven the worst situation, or the hardest training, he was there for us.
He could do 15 miles with a pack ... [and] he would go to the field to be with us. I believe he was every ounce a Marine as we were. Our battalion was training to be the first Special Operations Capable Marine Amphibious Unit. To put that in perspective, [the training involved] armored beach assaults, with AMTRACS [amphibious tracked vehicles], Helicopter Fast rope assaults, rubber raft insertions, urban warfare, forced marches, [and] night fighting, some of the hardest training Marines do….
The morning of the crash was no different.
There was a training predawn assault. Our Chaplain wanted to be with us, I’m not sure if he originally planned to go, or not. He changed helicopter sticks to be on the stick with the lay leader…. My fire team was bumped off the stick. We were discussing the newer landing spot when we heard the noise and alarms.
Everyone was secured to the berthing, so the ship’s crew could respond and head counts could be made. There was a long silence and a large dismay when company CO broke the news.… Respectfully, Robert Knight
One of the men in the Battalion had woken up ill that morning and at the last minute the Lieutenant asked Bob if he wanted to go. Of course he hopped right in.
The helicopter sank in 50 feet of ocean. He drowned on the way to the surface. The details of Bob’s death are as important as a life lived in consistent devotion to God. He studied God’s word and put into practice the things that he learned. He obeyed God’s calling in big and little things.
Bob was willing to lay down his life for his friends knowing that his life is always in God’s hands. His funeral took place at his parents’ church in Norfolk, and he is buried in the Veterans’ Cemetery in Hampton VA. He was a great classmate who faced many trials with grace, fortitude and character. He is a credit to his family, his Class, the Navy, the Chaplain Corps, his faith and his country. By such men our country has been sustained.
He is buried in Virginia.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.
