Robert Robinson – Sacrificed His Life for Our Freedom

Robert Robinson was born in Charleston, South Carolina on January 14, 1923. From the 1930 U.S. Census we learned that his father, Robert Sr., was a laborer working at odd jobs. His mother, Ernestine, 28, was a servant for a private family. She had four children living at home at this time; Robert Jr., 7, Gwendolyn, 5, Marcell, 3 and Pinckney, a one-year-old. They lived at 36 H Street in Charleston, South Carolina.

The 1940 U.S. Census lists the family as living at 9 Crescent Street in Asheville, North Carolina. Robert’s father was working as an assistant manager of an insurance company. Robert was 17 years old and absent because he was attending college. The family increased by one, adding a daughter, Genevieve. In addition, Robert Senior’s brother Willard, 27, lived with the family.

On June 30, 1942, Robinson registered for the WWII draft in Asheville. He was employed by the NYA Center. Robert’s height was recorded as an even six feet tall and his weight as 145 pounds. He listed D C Robinson as his next of kin. They were living at 9 North Crescent Street in Asheville.

Robinson joined the Army and was sent to Tuskegee, Alabama for flight training to become a pilot. After completion of flight training, Robert was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and his Army Air Corps Service Number was O-835414.

Next, Robert was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group 100th Fighter Squadron. History of the 100th: “Established in February 1942 at Tuskegee Army Airfield, Alabama to train African-American flight cadets graduated from the Tuskegee Institute Army contract flying school. At Tuskegee, the squadron performed advanced combat flying training. As the number of graduated from the Tuskegee school grew, two additional squadrons the 301st and 302d Fighter Squadrons were activated at Tuskegee Army Airfield, forming the 332d Fighter Group.

Due to the segregated status of the Army Air Forces in 1942 and the reluctance by the service to deploy African Americans into combat, the 332d remained in an extended training status. The Group was transferred to Selfridge Army Air Base, near Detroit, Michigan in March 1943 after the decision was reached to deploy the unit. Racial tensions in the Detroit area, however, forced a move to Oscoda Army Airfield, in isolated northeast Michigan the next month where the final training of the unit was performed by First Air Force. However, the unit was delayed again going into combat, and also was sent back to Selfridge upon completion of training at Oscoda AAF to perform Air Defense flights over the Detroit area beginning in July 1943.

For six months, the unit remained at Selfridge until pressure on the Army led to the decision to deploy the 100th to the Fifteenth Air Force in Italy at the end of 1943, under the command of Robert B. Tresville, to support the strategic aerial bombardment campaign being carried out by Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator Heavy bombers from newly established air bases in the Foggia, Italy area.

As the Italian Campaign pushed further north into Italy during 1944, the squadron moved to operate from forward captured air bases, flying bomber escort missions initially with Republic P-47D Thunderbolts, then being upgraded to the long-range North American P-51D Mustang fighter. In combat, the unit engaged enemy forces in the Rome-Arno area, then during the D-Day landings in France, took part in the Normandy and Northern France campaigns. It returned to the MTO in August 1944, flying combat missions supporting the Invasion of southern France and attacking enemy targets in Northern Italy, Po Valley, the German Rhineland and the Western Allied invasion of Germany during March and April 1945.

Tragically, Robert Robinson was killed during a mission in Italy on March 25, 1945. The mission was to escort bombers headed to their target. From the newspaper St. Louis Dispatch; “During the escort mission, 2nd Lieutenant Robinson was reported Missing in Action. According to the official Missing Air Crew Report, Robinson’s aircraft, a P51-c-10 named “Tuxedo Junction” ran out of fuel causing Robinson’s plane to crash land over the Udine region of northern Italy.”

(Missing Air Crew Report #13270, P-51 Serial Number 44-10955)

A burial for Robert Robinson took place, with full military honors, at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The ceremony took place on September 2, 1949. The headstone is located at Section 34 Grave 2824. The inscription on the stone reads; “ROBERT C ROBINSON JR, NORTH CAROLINA, 2ND LIEUTENANT, 332 AAF FIGHER GP, WORLD WAR II, JANUARY 14 1923, MARCH 25 1945, AM PH.” A Roman cross is carved in the top-center of the headstone.

Robinson received awards posthumously; A Purple Heart and an Air Medal.

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This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see

www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smart phone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’s name and read his/her story.

Resources:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49303685

1930 U.S. Census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/95806048:6224

he 1940 United States Federal Census

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/95806048:6224

U.S. Veterans' Gravesites

https://www.ancestry.com/search/

U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/251279:2238

https://www.americanairmuseum.com/archive/unit/100th-fighter-squadron

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100th_Fighter_Squadron

WWII uncovered ©️ original description and photo sourced by Honor States Database, the St Louis Post-Dispatch News Service and Ancestry Database

https://www.facebook.com/page/470413990451593/search/?q=ROBERT%20ROBINSON

SBTS: Asheville, NC

Robinson, Robert C