Stratford Veterans Museum
By Barbara Heimlich
It seems fitting that this month’s Veteran of the Month highlights Bob Bracci, who served in the Vietnam War, a war that Bob and an estimated over 60,000 Connecticut residents served in during the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Connecticut’s Vietnam War veteran population is significant, with a large number of state residents serving during the conflict. Approximately 2.7 million American men and women served during the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
Bob spent his early childhood days growing up in New Haven, then moved to Bridgeport. He graduated from Notre Dame Catholic High School in 1964 and worked his way through college earning a B.A. degree from Sacred Heart University in 1969.
In the fall of that same year, Bob entered the U.S. Army and completed basic infantry training at Fort Dix New Jersey. In May of 1970, Bob began his first tour in Vietnam with the Army’s First Air Cavalry Division – (Air Mobile). In the Iron Triangle Area, Bob served as a fight operations specialist. There he directed helicopter missions from operation centers at bases, as well as from various LZS in the III Corps area and re bases in Cambodia.
During Bob’s second Vietnam Tour in 1971, he was reassigned to the Army’s First Aviation Brigade. He served as mission controller, directing helicopter operations in the Central Highlands Pleiku area. Later in 1971, during operation Lam Son 719, he supported ARVN and ROK ranger units during incursions into Laos against the NVA.
Upon returning stateside. Bob was honorably discharged at Fort Lewis Washington in June of 1971. Bob’s service to the people of America did not end at that point. He became a Police Officer with the Trumbull Police Department, working in both Patrol and Detective Divisions.
Bob is a Life Member of VFW Post 9460. He has served on various committees and was a past Senior Vice-Commander and is presently the Post’s Sergeant-at-Arms. Importantly, at VFW Post 9460, Bob is also a proud member of the Color Guard, which has garnered 18 State Championships.
Other memberships include American Legion Post 42 in Stratford; The D.A.V.; a charter member of the Connecticut Air & Space Museum. On top of that, he is a military historian and an accomplished master military model builder. His detailed models and diorama’s has been on exhibit at the:
- Naval War College Museum, Newport RI
- The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial Museum, Oahu Hawaii
- U.S.S. Alabama Museum, Mobile Alabama
- Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum Hawaii (currently).
Bob Mastroni and the Stratford Veterans Museum proudly salute you! Respectfully submitted to the Stratford Veterans Museum by Joe Koripsky, April, 2025.
