REPORT CHARLES ROBINSON LOST
WAS ON PHILIPPINES AT TIME OF CAPITULATION
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Air Corps Private Believed To Have Fought on Bataan, Corregidor;
Landed at Manila, Nov. 17
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Pvt. Charles G. Robinson was reported missing in action in the Philippines in a letter received last week by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Robinson of near Hudson. His fate at the time of the fall of Corregidor is unknown, the message from the War Department said.
The letter inferred that Private Robinson fought in the epic stand of the Americans and Filipinos on Bataan peninsula and again on Corregidor island. The message was signed by Maj. J. A. Ulio of the adjutant general’s office.
“In Last Days…”
“In the last days before the surrender of Bataan,” he said, “there were casualties which were not reported to the War Department. Conceivably the same is true of Corregidor and possibly of other islands in the Philippines.”
The War Department hopes, he said, to get a list of the prisoners captured by the Japanese in the Philippines.
23 Years Old.
Private Robinson is 23 years old and is in the air corps. He arrived in Manila Nov. 17, of last year. Last previous word his parents had gotten from him was a letter written Nov. 20, which arrived Dec. 3. He is a native of Hawarden, but attend school in Hudson. He is a graduate of Hudson high school.
Private Robinson is the second soldier from this vicinity to be listed as missing. George Embrock, who was on Java at the time of its capitulation, was reported missing last June.
Source: The Hawarden Independent, August 20, 1942
FRANK ROBINSON ENLISTS IN NAVY
Frank Robinson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Robinson of Hudson, has enlisted in the Navy. Frank has been employed as a machinist in a defense plant at Peoria, Ill.
Charles Robinson, another son in this family, was reported missing in the Philippines Aug. 13. Bernard, a third son in the family, has received his questionnaire prior to induction.
Source: Hawarden Independent, September 24, 1942
MISSING SOLDIER AWARDED PURPLE HEART POSTHUMOUSLY
Pvt. Chas. C. Robinson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. N. Robinson of near Hudson, has been posthumously awarded the order of the Purple Heart. In a letter of sympathy from the War Department, signed by Henry L. Stimson, his parents were notified that the medal is being sent to them.
Although the parents have received no positive proof that their son is dead, the War Department apparently assumed that he sacrificed his life in the service of his country. Pvt. Robinson was reported missing on May 7, 1942, in the Philippines. Now word was received about him and the government, on May 8, 1944, two years later, officially presumed that he was dead.
Pvt. Robinson joined the Army on July 8, 1941. He left for Manila on November 1, of the same year. He arrived there just before Pearl Harbor. A letter written upon his arrival was received by his parents. Since then, they have had no definite news from him.
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson believe that he might have escaped from the Japs and that he is hiding somewhere in the islands. They have two other sons in the service, both Navy men. Frank W. Robinson, M.M.S. 3/c, has been stationed for two years at Glenview, Ill. Bernard Earl Robinson, A.M.M., seaman first class, is serving somewhere on an aircraft carrier.
Source: The Hawarden Independent, June 15, 1944
MEMORIAL RITES HELD AT HUDSON
Memorial services were held for Pvt. Charles Robinson of Hudson at the Lutheran church in Hudson Sunday morning. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Robinson of Hudson recently received word from the War Department that their son died of malaria in a Jap prison camp in the Philippines May 7, 1942.
Charles Gilmore Robinson was born February 19, 1919, at Hawarden. He attended rural schools and graduated from the Hudson High School in 1937. While in high school, he took an active part in music and athletics. He was employed at Sheldon, Iowa, and in California prior to entering the service.
Charles was called to the Army on July 8, 1941, and in August that year was transferred to the air corps. He left for overseas November 1, 1941, and the only word his family had from him after that was a letter written in Manila, November 20, 1941.
His parents received word from the War Department that their son was missing in action May 7, 1942. Then the War Department on May 7, 1944, placed him on the presumably dead list. It was only last week that his family learned that Pvt. Charles Robinson died from malaria May 7, 1942.
Charles was baptized and confirmed in the Hudson Lutheran church. He was a member of the choir and a Sunday school teacher while at home.
He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Robinson; three sisters and three brothers, Mrs. Harold Groth of Fairview, Betty and Robert at home, Doris of Detroit, Mich., Frank, who is in the Pacific, Bernard, who is in the Navy and stationed in Virginia; and his grandfather, C. A. Robinson of Hudson.
A number of memorial donations were given for various worthy causes in honor of the departed soldier.
Mr. and Mrs. James Dawson, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Dawson and Mr. and Mrs. Harry Dawson, of Hawarden, attended the services.
Source: The Hawarden Independent, September 13, 1945
