WWII Marine Corps veteran recalls action in Pacific
Otis Willie
(EXCERPT) By BONNIE HELLUM BRECHBILL Staff Correspondent
Chambersburg, Pa.
Paul D. Robinson gazes up at the flags flying in front of his
Chambersburg home and says, "I am so proud of those two flags."
A decorated World War II veteran and a sergeant in C Co., 1st
Battalion, 1st Marines, Robinson raised the American flag and the
Marine Corps flag in his yard during the first Gulf War.
"Once a Marine, always a Marine," said Robinson. "The Marine Corps is
like a family. If one falls, the others will pick him up."
Robinson was lying on the couch in his parents' Newburg (Pa.) home in
December 1941 when he heard on the radio that Pearl Harbor had been
bombed. He said to his mother, "I might as well go and join the Marine
Corps." When he left to catch the train to York, Pa., to enlist, his
mother prayed with him and gave him a small portrait of Jesus, he
recalled. "I've carried it in my wallet every day of my life since,"
he said, pulling it out to show a visitor.
After spending 12 weeks in Parris Island, S.C., as a recruit, he
became a rifle and ammunitions instructor there for 34 months. He had
to requalify every few years, and received an "expert" rating every
time, once firing 312 out of a possible 325, he said. His paycheck for
his first month of training, "after toiletries and blankets were taken
out of it," wa...
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Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com