Our reporting on local veterans is a collaboration with RyeVets.org to highlight those from Rye who have served our country across times of war and peace. There are over 2,100 veterans from the City of Rye. Learn more about how you can help research and write biographies of those that have served.
Robert A. Somerville lived in Rye on Horton Street and graduated from Rye High School, class of 1965. During the Vietnam War, he served in the U.S. Navy.Â
Street Address: Horton Street
Branch of Service: U.S. Navy
Somerville joined the Navy in June of 1966. His first duty station was a Destroyer Escort out of Newport, Rhode Island. During his second year on the ship, he received orders to Vietnam with a group called The Mobile Riverine Force. He spent thirteen months on a small boat going up and down the rivers in the Mekong Delta. During his time in-country, he received the Purple Heart for wounds during an ambush on the river.
After those thirteen months, Somerville was stationed on a Destroyer out of San Diego and received his discharge from the Navy in April 1970, with a three month early out for serving in Vietnam.
When Somerville got home, he got married and had two children. He spent 22 years with the Rye Police Department and retired in 1999. His father and his uncles graduated from Rye High School, and so did both of his children. He now has grandchildren in the Rye School system. More on Somerville.
