Robert John Carmody (September 4, 1938 – October 27, 1967) was an American

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whose career, which had included a bronze medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in

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as part of the flyweight division, was cut short when he was killed in action serving with the United States Army in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

Early life

Born in 1938 to lower-class parents in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Carmody learned his trade in street fights near his home before joining the Army in 1957 and signing up for boxing classes with a close friend.

Amateur career

Carmody proved a natural, and was quickly chosen to represent the 11th Airborne Division, continuing in this position after their deployment to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1958. In 1961, Carmody won his first All-Army flyweight boxing title, retaining it for the next four years until 1965. He also won the International Military Sports Council title in 1962 and garnered a bronze at the

1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted bids to host the 1963 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports O ...

. Attending the Olympic trials at the 1964 New York World's Fair the following year, Carmody won a shock victory over the favored

Melvin Miller Melvin is a masculine given name and surname, likely a variant of Melville and a descendant of the French surname de Maleuin and the later Melwin. It may alternatively be spelled as Melvyn or, in Welsh, Melfyn and the name Melivinia or Melva may ...

to secure a place on the 1964 Olympic team. At the training camp, Carmody formed a close friendship with Joe Frazier, at one point reportedly talking Frazier out of quitting the sport following an unexpected defeat. At the Olympics Carmody suffered a bruised hand, but still beat the Nepalese Thapa Namsing and the German Otto Babiasch before losing in the semi-finals to the eventual winner

Fernando Atzori Fernando Atzori (1 June 1942 – 9 November 2020) was an Italian flyweight boxer who won a gold medal at the 1964 Olympics. In the final, he defeated Artur Olech of Poland, despite suffering an eye injury. After the Olympics, he turned professi ...

, thus claiming a bronze medal.

1964 Olympic results

* Round of 32: bye * Round of 16: Defeated Nam Singh Thapa (Nepal) RSC * Quarterfinal: Defeated Otto Babiasch (Unified Team of Germany) 4–1 * Semifinal: Lost to

(Italy) 1–4 (was awarded bronze medal)

Outside the ring

After the Olympics, Carmody met and married Merry Sykes in Germany, and the two settled down into army family life, Robert and Merry had two children, Terri, a daughter 2 years old at the time of his death in Vietnam, and his newborn son, Robert Jr. After the Olympics and before Vietnam, Carmody trained several boxing teams at the International Military Sports Council games, including the U.S. Army squad and the Iraqi army boxing team. Carmody was given a pass to opt out of serving in Vietnam. He was a trained Army Boxer and not a well trained Soldier. Nevertheless, He decided to serve with his platoon and at the young age of 27 paid the ultimate price for his service.

Death

In June 1967 Carmody was called up to go to Vietnam with his unit, D Troop of the U.S. 17th Cavalry Regiment. Despite pleas from his friends not to go as he was not sufficiently combat trained as a result of his boxing career, Carmody insisted on deploying with his unit. Several weeks after arriving, while on a routine six-man foot patrol just to the north of Saigon,

Viet Cong , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

guerillas ambushed the squad and killed five of the six men, the single survivor reaching safety after an arduous journey of eleven hours. Among the dead was Staff Sergeant Carmody, who was posthumously awarded the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

for his valor during the ambush. Many tributes were offered following his death from soldiers and sportsmen alike who had known and respected him during his career.

References

ESPN Web Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carmody, Robert 1938 births 1967 deaths Sportspeople from Brooklyn Flyweight boxers Boxers from New York City Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in boxing Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics American military personnel killed in the Vietnam War United States Army non-commissioned officers American male boxers Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1963 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Olympians killed in warfare