Keith Albert was born in 1949 in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on February 7, 1968, and completed basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana, in April 1968. Pvt Albert then attended Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he was trained as an Asphalt and Concrete Equipment Operator in the Engineer Corps from April to June 1968. His first assignment was as an Asphalt and Concrete Equipment Operator and Asphalt Production Specialist with the 370th Engineer Company in West Germany from September 1968 to May 1969, followed by service as an Asphalt Production Specialist with the 102nd Engineer Company in South Vietnam from July 1969 until he was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War on May 21, 1970. After spending 999 days in captivity, SP4 Albert was released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and received an honorable discharge from the Army on June 22, 1973.