Roscoe Robinson

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Roscoe Robinson (1984)

Roscoe Robinson junior (born October 11, 1928 in St. Louis , Missouri , † July 22, 1993 in Washington, DC ) was a general in the United States Army (USA) and between 1982 and 1985 representative of the United States on the NATO Military Committee .

Robinson was the first African American to hold the rank of general in the US armed forces .

Education and career

Robinson was born in St. Louis, Missouri; from 1946 he attended the university there for a year before moving to the United States Military Academy in West Point , which he graduated in 1951 with a degree in engineering .

In 1952 Robinson served briefly as platoon and company commander in the Korean War , but was used as an instructor at the United States Army Infantry School in Fort Benning , Georgia , the following year . In 1963 he attended Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , and a year later earned a master's degree in international relations from the University of Pittsburgh . In 1967 he served as battalion commander in the Vietnam War , then for three years as Executive Officer of the Chief of Staff at the National War College , Fort Lesley J. McNair , Washington, DC

Service in the rank of general

Promoted to Brigadier General Robinson served from 1975 on as Commanding General of the United States Army Garrison in Okinawa , Japan , from the following year in the rank of major general in service with the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg , North Carolina ; Robinson was the first African American to command the 82nd Airborne Division .

In his last employment Robinson represented the United States from 1982 to 1985 on the NATO Military Committee and was promoted to general in this position; he was the first African American to hold this rank in the US armed forces. 1985 Robinson joined after 34 years of service in the retirement .

After his retirement Robinson sat on the board of directors of Northwest Airlines .

Roscoe Robinson died on July 22, 1993 at the age of 64 in Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington, DC, of ​​complications from leukemia ; he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Robinson was married to Mildred E. Robinson, nee Sims, and they have a son and a daughter together.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of Military Awards :

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Biography of Robinson in the US Army (last accessed December 2, 2015).
  2. ↑ a b Roscoe Robinson Jr. Dies at 64; First Black to Be 4-Star General . Obituary in the New York Times on July 22, 1993 (last accessed December 2, 2015).
  3. ^ Entry on Robinson at Arlington National Cemetery (last accessed December 2, 2015).
personal data
SURNAME Robinson, Roscoe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robinson, Roscoe Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American general in the US Army
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Louis , Missouri
DATE OF DEATH July 22, 1993
Place of death Washington, DC