Bill Robbins
The main source for this article was an interview conducted by S. Guthier on May 15, 2018
Bill (William) L. Robbins[edit]
Bill Robbins is a Wisconsin veteran who has served in both the Korean and Cold War.
Early Life[edit]
William L Robbins was born on February 1st, 1947 in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. He spent most of his youth in Lake Geneva and went to Badger High School where he graduated in 1965. His father, Lawrence Robbins, was an army platoon leader in a tank-retrieving platoon during World War II. One of Robbin’s regrets has been not asking his father about his service. [1]
University and ROTC During Vietnam Demonstrations[edit]
Robbins attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1965 - 1969 on a full army scholarship (though he originally wanted to join the airforce) through the G.I. Bill. During his time at UW-Madison, he was a part of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) of which he was a member all throughout his college career. In ROTC, he was sergeant of the drill team, and the team won third place in a competition in Champaign, Illinois. Robbins was compelled to hide the fact that he was in ROTC due to the increasing anti-war pressure on campus at the time: "Opposition to the war in the United States bitterly divided Americans"[2] . Robbins vividly recounts his experiences with the demonstrations against the Dow Chemical Company which happened while he was on campus. "Fifty years ago the Dow Chemical protests brought everyday life on the UW–Madison campus to an abrupt halt"[3]
His exemplary performance as an ROTC officer and in his classes led him to be a distinguished military graduate. This gave him more decision about his first assignment in the army.
Training[edit]
Robbins went to Ranger school (a combat leadership course) in 1969 at Fort Benning. Robbins trained in class 5-69 for six weeks. He describes it as one of the hardest things he has ever done, in terms of physical and mental challenges including: Ranger Physical Fitness Test (RPFT), 5 mile individual run in 40 minutes or less, Combat Water Survival Assessment, Combination Night/Day land navigation test, a 3-mile terrain run, followed by the Malvesti Field Obstacle Course, demolitions training and airborne refresher training, a 12-mile forced, tactical ruck march.
Wartime Service[edit]
Germany [edit]
After graduating from Ranger school, Robbins completed armor officer training and was assigned to the 11th army cavalry regiment along the East/West Germany border. There he met his platoon leader, Joe Wheeler, and the two formed an instant bond of trust and respect. He served as the northern squadron leader from 1974 - 1977 in command of 10 armored vehicles, three tanks, 5 reconnaissance vehicles, infantry track, a mortar carrier, for a total of about 40 men under his command. Robbins’ time as a squadron leader primarily involved facing off with Russians across a heavily fortified border (The Iron Curtain, a border between East and West Europe during The Cold War).
“It was wet and it was cold and they would bring a truck out in the garrison in the morning, about 5 o’clock in the morning, a 2.5 ton mess truck, and they would cook right on the back of this truck, and pick up your food then go back to where you were eating. It was o-dark-thirty, and they would fill your aluminum tray with scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon, some toast, and a hot cup of coffee. We had to walk 50 yards back from the truck, in the rain, so by the time we had our fork and knife out the bacon grease had coagulated, the toast was soggy, and the coffee was watered down and cold. That was our breakfast.”[4]
Fort Leonard Wood[edit]
Following his time in Germany, Robbins returned to the United States and was stationed Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. There, he trained new military recruits as a company commander. He claims that this was difficult- the recruits were “off the street; had no discipline.” He said that while he was stationed there, it was normal for about one in ten new recruits to drop out of the course.
Korea[edit]
After training new recruits to the army at Fort Leonard Wood, he served in Korea for one year. In his own words, “I wanted to go to Korea… I wanted that experience.” [5] From 1974-1975, Robbins was in charge of a maintenance team in Daegu, Korea. His team’s job was to drive all over South Korea and inspect other military units “to see if they were up to par.” Robbins never served in combat in Korea, but he knew that by vowing to “support and defend the Constitution,” he could be issued to fight at any moment. Despite his honorable work in Korea, in 1975, there was a reduction in force and he was asked to return to the States.
End of service and life afterwards[edit]
From 1975-77 he was in the Army Reserve. Bill’s current feelings about war are summarized in his own words: “The people who hate war the most are the ones who served in it.” [6] While he was not in active combat, he knows that you have to see war to understand how devastating it is.
He now lives with his wife, Chris who is also a veteran, and they have three children. Robbins joined the American Legion: "The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness." [7] Robbins was awarded the 2016 legionnaire of the year by the American Legion Severson-Cairns Post 501 and continues to participate in Post 501 veteran activities in the Madison, Wisconsin area.
External Links[edit]
This article "Bill Robbins" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Bill Robbins. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ S. Guthier Interview, May 2018
- ↑ History.com Staff. “Vietnam War.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history.
- ↑ “October 1967.” A Turning Point, 1967.wisc.edu/.
- ↑ S. Guthier Interview, May 2018
- ↑ S. Guthier Interview, MAy 2018
- ↑ S. Guthier Interview, May 2018
- ↑ “The American Legion a U.S. Veterans Association.” The American Legion, www.legion.org/.
