Robert Francisco “Bob” Estes Jr. was born to Robert F. and Estelle Estes in Boston, MA on June 11, 1937. He and his family lived his early years in Louisiana and New Hampshire, and he then grew up in the great pine forests of central Maine. In Hampton, NH, Bob had his first exposure with unfairness towards others, and it exposed his fierceness in pursuit of doing the right thing. A kindergarten classmate who was at the top of the class was passed over for the honor of representing the school because of her religion. Bob offended the headmaster by calling on him to do the right thing, and when the principal would not, Bob told him he could “Go to hell!” A scrappy 5-year-old Bob was invited to leave school, and a warrior was born. At this point the family, which now included his younger sister, Elizabeth, moved to Rangeley ME, where Bob attended schools until the family moved to Anson, ME on the west bank of the Kennebec River. Bob finished high school at Madison Memorial High School.

Bob’s father was a surveyor for the Great Northern Paper Company. In the course of his work, he found a fine cabin site on Pierce Pond and with Bob’s help built a cabin there. Bob met the owner of Perry’s Pierce Pond Camps, which brought in clients seeking a guided fishing or hunting experience in the wilderness. Hired as a guide, Bob worked there every summer until he was recommended for West Point. He attended Bates College in Lewiston, ME for a year until Representative Charles Nelson appointed him to West Point.

Upon his 1960 graduation from West Point, Bob attended the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill, OK, followed by Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA. He found his career niche at helicopter flight school, where he discovered his passion and natural aptitude for piloting helicopters. 

Bob married Anona Getchell in 1961, and the couple had four children: Debora was born in 1962, Kimberly in 1967 (during Bob’s second tour in Vietnam), and the twins, Derek and Dana, came in 1969 (after Bob’s return from his second tour). Bob served two extended tours of duty in Vietnam, his first from 1964 to 1965 and his second from 1967 to 1969. He was a platoon leader of the Razorback Armed Helicopter Squadron, where he was known as “Papa Pig.” His skill as a pilot and his heroism in combat earned him the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and some two dozen Air Medals. Bob was instrumental in converting Huey choppers into lethal gunships. After Vietnam, he taught student pilots and instructors at Fort Wolters, TX and did flight testing at the Yuma Proving Ground, AZ.

Bob left the Army in 1974 as a major and bought a small business in Virginia. As happens with many military families, the strain of deployments and his separation from the military took its toll on his marriage; in 1977 Bob sold his business and headed north to Alaska to start over anew. In Alaska Bob first worked as a long-term substitute teacher at a little village school called Ninilchik and worked as a supervisor at a fish cannery. His positive attitude toward Native Alaskans and his work experience then landed him a job designing and assembling prefabricated homes for the native village in Point Lay, AK on the Arctic Ocean. Having completed that work, Bob was hired as city engineer technician for the city of Soldotna, AK. During his time there, from 1982 to 1984, he designed many of the roads and streets for that growing city. 

When his father suffered a heart attack and needed surgery, Bob flew back to Maine to care for him. While in Maine, working and caring for his parents, Bob met his wife-to-be, Jeanette Wentzel. After they had dated for several years, Jeanette moved to Florida to be near her children; Bob went with her, and they were married in Tavares, FL in 1993. There he worked at the Mission Inn Resort and Golf Course near Orlando before opening his own business, Estes Golf Cart Repair. He devoted his time to caring for Jeanette and her respiratory problems until she passed away in 2006, at which time he returned to Maine to live with his sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, John Zimba, in Oakland. 

Bob died in his beloved Maine on May 31, 2010. His funeral services were held at a family home and were attended by four West Point classmates. There was no bugler for “Taps,” but an old Khe Sanh veteran Marine with a foot-long harmonica produced a wonderful, plaintive substitute.

Bob was a feisty, independent Mainer with a fierceness no doubt related in part to his compact size. He was one of the shorter men in his West Point class, a proud stalwart of runt Company A-2. His ferocity, together with his innate flying skills, served him and the Army very well during his two extended combat tours in Vietnam. Well Done, Bob; Be Thou at Peace.

— Company A-2 classmates and Debora Estes