James William Robinson, Jr
Sergeant
C CO, 2ND BN, 16TH INFANTRY, 1ST INF DIV, USARV
Army of the United States
Lyons, Illinois
August 30, 1940 to April 11, 1966
JAMES W ROBINSON Jr is on the Wall at Panel 6E, Line 102

moh_army-s.gif  
 
cib.gif
 
phagcbase.gif
 
James W Robinson
usarv.gif 1infdiv1.gif 16thinfrgt.gif



James W Robinson

SGT JAMES WILLIAM ROBINSON Jr

 
21 Aug 2003

RobinsonJW01t.jpg

Dead Sergeant Wins Medal

WASHINGTON (AP) - The 16th Medal of Honor of the Vietnam war was awarded Thursday to an Army sergeant who died while charging a Communist machine gun position. Sgt. James W. Robinson Jr., 26, of Annandale, Va., was killed April 11, 1966, in action against a Viet Cong battalion. The announcement gave this account of Sgt. Robinson's heroic acts while serving with the 1st Infantry Division.

"After dragging three wounded men to safety and saving their lives by giving them first aid, Sgt. Robinson was himself wounded by enemy fire. When his ammunition was expended he seized two grenades and charged an enemy machine gun position. He was wounded three more times but still managed to throw the grenades, destroying the enemy position as he fell dead on the battlefield."

This article appeared in the Daily Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster, PA on July 7, 1967.

From a native Philadelphian and Marine,
Jim McIlhenney
christianamacks@comcast.net

 
16 Sep 2003
Robinson Secondary School
in Fairfax County, Virginia, was named in honor of
Sergeant Robinson when it was built in 1971.

 
24 May 2006

I would just like to say "Thank you".

From a Lyons, Illinois, resident,
George ("Big George") Mendlik
batswin1@aol.com

 
Note from The Virtual Wall

On 11 Apr 1966, C Company, 2/16th Infantry, was engaged and surrounded by a larger Viet Cong force in a heavily forested area about 35 miles east of Saigon. In the ensuing battle, C Company was destroyed as a fighting force - 34 dead, 72 seriously wounded, and only 28 still effective - but they held until relieved on 12 April.

Decorations for heroism during the action were awarded to many of the soldiers, including posthumous awards of the Medal of Honor to Sergeant Robinson, the Distinguished Service Cross to platoon leader 1LT George C. Steinberg, and the Air Force Cross to Air Force pararescueman A1C William H. Pitsenbarger who came into the battle with a medevac helicopter and stayed to fight.

The ferocity of the action and the bravery of the soldiers who fought it come through clearly in the text of Sergeant Robinson's Medal of Honor Citation:

James W Robinson

SGT Robinson was laid to rest in Clarendon Hills Cemetery,
Darien Illinois. His mother also rests there.
James W Robinson


- - The Virtual Wall, October 29, 2014

Contact Us © Copyright 1997-2019 www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd ®(TM) Last update 08/15/2019