Robert L Vaught, Jr., died on March 19, 2023 at the age of 71 of stomach cancer.  He was born to Robert Lee Vaught, Sr. and Ruby Lee Vaught, the first of six children, on April 26, 1951.

Upon graduating high school in 1969, he joined the army as an 11B infantry soldier. He served in Vietnam in 1969-70 as a combat soldier in the 198th Light Infantry Brigade under Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf. At the time, this was Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzkopf's first combat assignment out of West Point. The men he served with were some of the best and bravest he would ever know.

After the army he went to Alaska, where he attended college and worked for the Alaska Department of Fish & Game and the United States Forest Service. For the next 30 years he worked for the Forest Service: in Mountain City, Nevada; as District Ranger in Austin, Nevada; as Deputy Forest Supervisor in Ketchikan, Alaska on the Tongass National Forest; as Forest Supervisor on the Colville National Forest in Washington state; as Forest Supervisor on the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest; as Chief of Staff for the Deputy Chief in Washington DC; and as Director of Natural Resources in the intermountain region based in Denver, Colorado. Bob worked on some of the most important issues in national forest management of the day, including timber management, clear-cut logging in Alaska, grazing management in Nevada, anti-government protests like the shovel brigade in northern Nevada, threatened and endangered species management, including northern lynx, black-footed ferret, bighorn sheep, and others, as well as bark beetle infestation in Colorado. Working on the national forest was an amazing experience as well as knowing, meeting and working with many amazing people also dedicated to natural resource management in the national forest. One of his biggest regrets was not keeping up with many of these wonderful people and he hopes they retain at least some good memories from their time working together.

Along the way Bob had two children, Jeremy Vaught and Bethany Dykman, and he was exceedingly proud of the young people they have become. He was preceded in death by his mother, father, and brother Timothy Vaught. He is survived by his children, 3 brothers, 1 sister, and 7 grandchildren. He specifically requested no funeral or donations. However, if you must, the National Forest Foundation and the Wild Sheep Foundation or the Aldo Leopold Foundation would be good choices. He will be buried in the Dayton Ohio National Military Cemetery in a simple military ceremony.