|
Charles D. Robinson—June
2005 Shipment Honoree
Army
Capt., 29, of Haddon Heights, N.J.; assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.; killed
June 3, 2005 when his convoy vehicle was struck by an
improvised explosive device at Forward Operating Base Orgun-E,
Afghanistan. Also killed was Staff Sgt. Leroy E. Alexander.
Army
Capt. Charles D. Robinson's Life Spanned the Globe
Source: http://www.groups.sfahq.com/7th/robinson_charles_kia.htm
A resident of Haddon Heights,
N.J., Robinson was commissioned in the Army immediately
following graduation from Cedarville College in Ohio May 1998,
where he earned a bachelor’s degree in foreign trade. His
first military assignment was with the 504th Parachute
Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
Robinson graduated from the Special Forces Qualification
Course and was assigned to 7th SFG in December 2003. Robinson
deployed to Afghanistan in January 2005 in support of the
Global War on Terrorism.
Army Capt. Charles D.
Robinson's life spanned the globe. The son of missionaries
based in Haddon Heights, Robinson spent much of his life in
Paraguay, where he developed a love of languages and a bond
with other Americans stationed overseas. At Baptist Regional
School in Haddon Heights, Robinson played soccer and kept in
touch with friends after his family resumed their travels. And
after the Special Forces sent him to Afghanistan in January as
part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Robinson asked his family
to mail him care packages of candy. He planned to give them to
children in villages he was helping rebuild.
Robinson, 29, was one of two
Special Forces soldiers killed Friday when a bomb exploded
near the ground mobility vehicle he was traveling in during
operations near Orgun-e, in the southeastern region of
Afghanistan. He had been assigned to the First Battalion,
Seventh Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, N.C.
"He put his heart and soul
into everything he did," said his maternal grandmother, Doris
Anderson of Woodstown. "He was outgoing in a quiet sort of
way."
During Robinson's childhood,
his parents, Charles and Janet, were missionaries based at
Haddon Heights Baptist Church. Robinson and his brother and
sister were home-schooled by their mother in Paraguay, his
grandmother said. During one family furlough, Robinson spent
his freshman and sophomore years at Baptist High School, which
is affiliated with the church, head administrator Lynn Conahan
said.
"He was easygoing, friendly,
outgoing, and he could take a joke," said Conahan, whose son,
P.J., was a friend of Robinson's. After Robinson's family
returned to Paraguay, he continued to write letters to P.J.,
Conahan said.
Robinson later graduated from
Asuncion Christian Academy in Paraguay, said his brother,
Jeffrey. In Paraguay, Robinson and his family developed a
kinship with American military officials and other Americans
living abroad, his grandmother said.
He later majored in
international studies and global economics at Cedarville
University in Ohio, graduating in 1998, according to
university spokesman Roger Overturf. That was where he met his
wife, Laura, a native of Iowa, said Overturf, who remembered
the couple. Several of Robinson's and his wife's relatives
attended the tight-knit, 3,000-student university, Overturf
said. "We're all pretty devastated here."
Robinson became involved in
ROTC in college, which led him into the Army after graduation.
He was first assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry
Regiment, 82d Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg. But "he
wanted more than that," Anderson said. Robinson completed a
rigorous training program over more than two years and joined
the elite Special Forces in December 2003.
He lived with his wife in
Fayetteville, N.C., and they were hoping to start a family
soon, Anderson said. The family was hoping Robinson would
return in August. Laura Robinson said yesterday she did not
want to comment. Robinson's parents, who live in Pemberton
Township, could not be reached yesterday.
Maj. Robert Gowan, a
spokesman for the Army's Special Forces Command, said Robinson
had been riding in a ground mobility vehicle. "It is a
modified humvee," Gowan said, and was "heavily armored." Also
killed in the explosion was another member of Robinson's
group, Staff Sgt. Leroy E. Alexander, 27, a Special Forces
engineer sergeant from Dale City, Va.
Captain Robinson is buried at
Arlington National Cemetery. Robinson is survived by his wife,
Laura; and parents, Charles and Janet Robinson of Brown Mills,
N.J.
His awards and decorations
include: the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement
Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on
Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the
Parachutist Badge, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert
Infantryman Badge, the Special Forces Tab and Ranger Tab. He
was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart,
the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Afghanistan Campaign
Medal.
|
