Col. Roy W. Bahr

Colonel Roy W. Bahr, 89, died Friday, Feb. 7, 2020, in Knoxville, Tenn.    He was born Sept. 10th, 1930 in Jacksonville, Fla., the son of Claire Marie LaPan and Frederick Bahr. Roy graduated from Robert E. Lee Senior High School, Class of 1948. In his youth, Roy swam competitively at the University of Florida and spent summers as the sole lifeguard for miles-long stretches of Jacksonville Beach. He joined the Naval Air Reserve on his 17th birthday and served as an aviation ordinance man until July 1950. At that time, he joined the U.S. Army, and graduated from the Infantry Officer Candidates School in Fort Benning, Ga. in 1951. 

His first Special Forces assignment was in 1962, where he was a guerrilla warfare instructor in the Unconventional Warfare Department, U.S. Special Warfare School, Fort Bragg, N.C. Roy graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in 1963. From there, he attended the Army Language School in Monterey, Calif., studying Spanish. 

His next assignment was the Irregular Warfare Committee at the School of Americas in Ft. Gulick, Panama Canal Zone. After two years in Panama, he had the opportunity to transfer to Chile where he was assigned as the Training Advisor to the Chilean Army and Special Forces Battalion. He participated in parachute operations with the Special Forces and earned his Chilean jump wings.

Bahr departed Chile in early February 1968 and arrived in Vietnam in March 1968. In Vietnam, he first served as a Commanding Officer of Special Forces Forward Operational Base (FOB) No. 3, in Khe Sanh. When he arrived Khe Sanh was under siege and had been since late January 1968. FOB No. 3 remained in Khe Sanh until June 1968. Bahr became Commanding Officer of FOB No. 1 in Phu Bai, then CO off FOB No. 2 in Kontum and finally, as the first Commanding Officer of Command and Control Central.

Upon return from Vietnam, he was appointed as the Deputy Commanding Officer (DCO) of the 10th Special Forces Group in Fort Devens, Mass. This unit’s mission was to be inserted into hostile territory – behind enemy lines – in the event of war in Europe. That mission required the 10th Group to conduct training exercises in many countries throughout Western Europe.

In 1971, Bahr was selected for promotion to the rank of Colonel. As a result, he was assigned to the Joint U.S. Military Group in Spain, as the Special Assistant to the Joint U.S.-Spanish Permanent Secretariat. In 1973, he returned to the U.S. and was assigned to the U.S. Readiness Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. as the Chief of the Ground Evaluation Branch. 

Bahr retired in 1974. His overseas assignments included: Korea, Germany, Panama, Chile and Spain, with numerous temporary tours.

He is the recipient of the Combat Infantry Badge, the Expert Infantry Badge, Master Parachute Badge, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster (OLC), Soldiers Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Air Medal with OLC and other awards and decorations. Units he commanded during combat operations in Vietnam were awarded two Presidential Unit Citations, the highest award that a unit can receive for Extraordinary Heroism. Bahr was inducted into the Infantry OCS Hall of Fame in 1972.

After retirement, he built homes in Montauk, N.Y. and renovated Colonial and Victorians in Newport, R.I. He was active in real estate in Florida, Rhode Island and North Carolina. Roy remained a diehard Florida Gators fan and enjoyed watching football games every fall. He was an avid reader, averaging close to a book a day in his retirement. He cherished his memories of traveling the Pan-American Highway and sailing the Caribbean with his father. Roy loved golf, and it is on the links where he enjoyed the camaraderie and competition especially at his home course at Grand Harbor in Vero Beach, Fla.

Roy remained involved in many veterans’ activities and was especially fulfilled by his MACV-SOG affiliation and friendships. He served as a Founding Director of the Special Operations Memorial Foundation located at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. He was a Life Member of the Special Operations Association, Special Forces Association, Khe Sanh Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, OCS Alumni Association and Military Officers Association of America.

Surviving in addition to his wife, Maxine Williams-Bahr, are stepson Mark Williams and wife Kristin, granddaughter Anna Bryn Williams of Knoxville; sister, Audrey Grimes of Newport, R.I., and nephew Stephen and wife Kimberly Grimes, their children Mathew and Grace of Hampton Bays, N.Y, and niece Anne Grimes and Rene Walker, and their children Hunter, Cole, and Avery, of North Providence, R.I.

Burial will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Roy’s name to the Special Operations Association (MACV-SOG), P.O. Box 335461, North Las Vegas, Nev., 89033.

Online condolences may be extended at rosemortuary.com