Another good one gone

Robert L. Howard (11 July 1939 to 23 December 2009) was a highly decorated soldier and a Medal of Honor recipient for Vietnam. As a staff sergeant of the then-highly-classified Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG), Howard was recommended for the Medal of Honor on three separate occasions for three individual actions during thirteen months spanning 1967–1968. The first two nominations were downgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, due to the covert nature of the operations in which Howard participated. As a Sergeant First Class of the same organization, he risked his life during a rescue mission in Cambodia on 30 December 1968 while second in command of a platoon-sized Hornet force that was searching for missing American soldier Robert Scherdin, and was finally awarded the Medal of Honor.
Howard was wounded 14 times during one 54-month period during the Vietnam conflict. He received two Masters degrees during his government career which spanned almost 50 years. Howard retired as a full Colonel in 2006.
According to NBC News, Howard may have been the most highly-decorated American soldier since World War Two, having received the Medal of Honor along with two Distinguished Service Crosses, the Silver Star, the Defense Superior Service Medal, four Legion of Merit medals, four Bronze Stars, and eight Purple Hearts.