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Lizbeth Robles

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki


Lizbeth Robles
SPC Lizbeth Robles
Born(1973-04-04)April 4, 1973
Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
DiedMarch 1, 2005(2005-03-01) (aged 31)
Tikrit, Iraq
Place of burial
Puerto Rico National Cemetery in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
AllegianceUnited States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Rank
Specialist
Unit68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 43rd Area Support Group
Battles/warsOperation Iraqi Freedom
Awards Purple Heart

Lizbeth Robles (April 4, 1973 – March 1, 2005) was the first Puerto Rican female soldier to die in combat. She was serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom when she died.

Early years and education[edit]

Robles was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.[1] In 1978, her parents moved to Boston. The family returned to Vega Baja, in 1983, where her father was a church pastor and Robles the leader of the church's youth group. After graduating from Lino Padrón Rivera High School, she attended the American University of Puerto Rico in Manatí. After one year at the university, she was unable to pay the tuition and transferred to the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. There she was able to receive financial aid and complete her degree.[2]

Military service[edit]

According to her brother, Robles was dissatisfied with the jobs available to her[1] before being hired by Bristol Myers Squibb, in the town of Barceloneta. Robles enlisted in the Armed Forces of the United States in 2000.[3] She joined the U.S. Army and received her basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, where she was sent to Fort Hood and assigned to the 46th Chemical Company. Later, she was sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and was assigned to the 659th Maintenance Co. Robles was sent to South Korea,[3][4] where she was assigned to the 4th Chem Co. at Camp Casey. She also served in Uzbekistan before being assigned to Fort Carson in Colorado.[5][6][7][3]

Robles, who enjoyed driving tankers and trucks, was then assigned to the 360th Transportation Company,[8] 68th Corps Support Battalion. There she lived with her husband Stokey Smith. After she received her deployment orders, but before she left for Iraq, Robles went to Puerto Rico, where she spent the Thanksgiving of 2004 with her friends and family. After that last Thanksgiving with her family, she went to Iraq, where she reported to her company.[6] During her service in Iraq, Robles volunteered to join the 43rd Area Support Group, which rode in convoys to secure dangerous roadways and allow the delivery of fuel.[9][5]

On February 28, 2005,[10] SPC Lizbeth Robles and Sgt. Julio Negron were killed when a Humvee they were riding in flipped over in the town of Bayji, Iraq.[9] They were rushed to the 228th Command Support Hospital in Tikrit where both of them later died of the injuries sustained from the accident.[11][2] Robles was the first Puerto Rican female soldier and one of the first 2000 American soldiers who died in Iraq[12] supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.[13][14] Robles was on her second tour in Iraq when she died.[15]

Legacy[edit]

Lizbeth Robles' remains arrived in Puerto Rico on March 6, 2005. She was buried with full military honors in the Puerto Rico National Cemetery located in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.[16] Her name along with the others who have perished in Afghanistan and Iraq, was engraved in "El Monumento de la Recordación" (Monument of Remembrance), dedicated to Puerto Rico's fallen soldiers and situated in front of the Capitol Building in San Juan, Puerto Rico and unveiled by Puerto Rico Senate President Kenneth McClintock and PR National Guard Adjutant General Col. David Carrión Baralt on Memorial Day, 2007.[6]

According to Jorge Mariscal, writing for CounterPunch, "The story of Lizbeth Robles teaches us much about young women in today’s “volunteer” army," including because "Although women are not technically given combat arms occupations, assignments such as that of Robles account for many of the killed and wounded," and "Despite the harsh realities for women in the military, some like Lizbeth Robles decide to make the military their career."[3]

In 2014, Lizbeth Robles' name, along with the names of 23 others who perished in Iraq, was engraved in a monument and placed at the Fort Leonard Wood's Chemical Memorial Grove.[17]

In 2007, the Connecticut General Assembly was reminded that Robles was the first Puerto Rican woman to die in a war zone. Assembly members were asked to consider Robles and other Hispanic-American soldiers who died in a war zone as impetus for the passing of legislature to support Hispanic-American veterans because "According to the Pew Hispanic Center, while Latinos make up 9.5% of the actively enlisted forces, they are over represented in the categories that get the most dangerous assignments, infantry, gun crews, and seamanship, and make up over 17.5% of the front lines."[18]

Awards and decorations[edit]

File:El Monumento de la Recordacion.jpg
El Monumento de la Recordación

Among SPC Lizbeth Robles' decorations and medals were the following:

Bronze star
Purple Heart National Defense Service Medal Iraq Campaign Medal with one service star
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Army Service Ribbon Army Overseas Service Ribbon

See also[edit]


Other articles of the topic Biography : List of pneumonia deaths, 27 Club, BigWalkDog, Tony Tinderholt, Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani, Bankrol Hayden, PewPew
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References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Rylko-Bauer, Barbara; Whiteford, Linda M.; Farmer, Paul (2009). Global Health in Times of Violence. School for Advanced Research Press. pp. 5, 150–151, 153. ISBN 9781934691144. Search this book on
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Colón Dávila, Javier. "APASIONADA DE LA MILICIA". El Nuevo Día (in español). Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Mariscal, Jorge (January 24, 2006). "Bush's War Viewed from the South". CounterPunch. Retrieved 21 February 2021.[unreliable source?]
  4. ↑ "Lizbeth Robles Obituary - (2005) - Vega Baja, Puerto Rico". The Gazette. 2005-03-03. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Fallen: 2005". The New York Times. 2006-09-23. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Fallen Heroes Memorial[unreliable source?]
  7. ↑ "Forces: U.S. & Coalition/Casualties - Special Reports". CNN International. 2010-05-14. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  8. ↑ "Transportation Transfer of Authority". DVIDS. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "War's realities hit home again". The Denver Post. March 29, 2005. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  10. ↑ Chang, Hyoung (March 29, 2005). "FORT CARSON CO, MARCH 29, 2005". Getty Images. The Denver Post. Retrieved 21 February 2021. A joint memorial service for Sgt. Julio Negron and Spc. Lizbeth Robles is set in Fort Carson's Soldiers Memorial Chapel on Tuesday.
  11. ↑ "HUMVEE CRASH KILLS SOLDIER WITH FLORIDA TIES". orlandosentinel.com. 2005-03-03. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  12. ↑ Barkan, Ross (2005-10-18). "2,000 Troops Dead—and No End in Sight". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  13. ↑ "ABC News Honors U.S. Casualties". ABC News. 2021-03-04. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  14. ↑ "U.S. Casualties Announced By The Dept. of Defense 2004". USNewsLink. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  15. ↑ "Operation Iraqi Freedom". Valor Run. 2001-09-11. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  16. ↑ "Puerto Rico National Cemetery - Bayamón". TracesOfWar.com. 2020-05-02. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  17. ↑ "Chemical Regiment remembers fallen with OEF/OIF monument dedication". www.army.mil. 2014-09-18. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  18. ↑ "Connecticut General Assembly". cga. Retrieved 14 March 2021.

External links[edit]


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