McClellen, Robert, LTC

Robert William McClellan, 69, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel who had a second career as a contractor for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, died November 14, 2010 at his home in Woodbridge, Virginia. 

A spokesperson for the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said determination of the cause of death is pending further tests.

Robert was born October 1, 1941 in Summit, New Jersey.   He loined the Army after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1963.  Upon graduation from the Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, he received his commission as an Infantry Officer (2nd LT).  He  then completed airborne training, again, at Fort Benning, Georgia and then was assigned to Charlie Company, 1st BN (Airborne), 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Benning, Georgia.  He served here and later in Vietnam, as a Platoon Leader.  It seems that after his tour with this unit he volunteered to stay for a second tour, this time as a Captain with C Company, 2nd BN, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Inantry Division at Cu Chi, Vietnam.  The following account is taken from Tropical Lightning News of May 6, 1968:

Close in Fighting Nets 18 For Hounds

2nd BDG - A company from the 25th Inf Div killed at least 18 members of an entrenced Viet Cong platoon it encountered at point blank range during an Operation Quyet Thang sweep near Saigon.  Co C, 2nd Bn, 27th Inf, "Wolfhounds," operating under the 3rd Bde, engaged the enemy unit only 10 minutes after it landed in a canal and rice paddu country near Hoc Mon, a suberb northwest of Saigon.

According to 1SG Henry C. Klaput of Marina, Calif., the action began when the company's point man, SP4 Larry Johnson of Prattville, Ala., spotted and shot a Viet Cong less than 10 meters to his front.

CPT Robert W. McCellan, Co CO from Summit, N.J.., called for helicopter gunship support, then maneuvered his troops against what they soon discovered to be a series of enemy fortifications.

McCellan described the fighting as "pretty heavy," adding that many of his men were firing less than 20 feet from the enemy bunkers.

"We were so close we were trowing grenades underhanded," Klaput said.

After seven hours of fighting, McCellan pulled the company back to wait out the night.  Sweeping through the area the next morning, they found 18 Viet Cong bodies and captured several weapons.

The company commander praised his first sergeant for doing "an outstanding job.  He was throwing hand grenades and getting his men together despite heavy fire."

Klaput later said he thought the Viet Cong were at first trying to avoid a fight.

"I'm surprised they didn't open fire on us as we were landing.  I really think they were hoping we would miss them in the bunkers, but when Johnson got too close, they had to fire," he said.

After Vietnam, Bob served in infantry and airborne infantry units in the United States, in the Republic of the Congo on a security mission assisting the loyalist government and mercenaries.  He also served in Germany.  Following a security assistance tour in Beirut, Lebanon when the U.S. Embassy and Marine Barracks were attacked, Colonel McCellan served as an Army liaison at the Marine Corps headquarters in Quantico, Virginia.  There he helped develop a counter-terrorist program.

LTC McCellan retired from the U.S. Army in 1986 and as mentioned above,began work as a contractor/consultant for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection until 2010.  While tere, he was primarily responsible for identifying and selecting locations at commercial ports of entry on the southwestern and northern borders for the installation of non-intrusive inspection equipment.  He subsequently monitored the installation of x-ray and gamma ray technology designed to scan commercial cargo as well as the constructon of facities to accomodate these systems.

His marriages to Colleen Cox and Kathleen Donnell ended in divorce.  Survivors include two children from his first marriage, Robert Joseph McCellan of Lorton, Virginia and Cherie Elizabeth Jernigan of Linda, California.

Bob's SSN: 135-34-2481 (New Jersey)