[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 107 (Thursday, July 16, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7637-S7638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMENDING REV. LEONARD ROBINSON

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the word ``hero'' is used often and 
lightly these days. Yet there are those special people that walk among 
us in our hometowns across America who genuinely rate that title. The 
terrible days of the Second World War produced an entire generation of 
such people. Today they are our friends and neighbors. They endured 
great trials and gave so much of themselves for so many of us in the 
most difficult of circumstances. They served in our nation's darkest 
hour. And then they came home. They went back to work, to school, 
bought homes, and raised families. Many did not care to speak about 
what they had seen or suffered through. I come to the floor of the U.S. 
Senate today to honor one such individual.
  Mr. President, on April 9, 1942, American and Filipino forces 
defending the peninsula of Bataan from the invasion of Imperial Japan 
ended a gallant holding action to prevent the Japanese conquest of the 
Philippines. The soldiers lacked supplies and air support, and were 
crippled by starvation and disease when they were finally overwhelmed 
on that fateful day. What would follow the surrender would go down as 
one of the most brutal and ghastly chapters written in human history.
  More than 75,000 men, including nearly 12,000 Americans, were turned 
out onto a broken, dusty road and forced to march nearly 70 miles to 
the dreadful prison camp, Camp O'Donnell, that would be their home 
until the war's end. The journey was barbarous. Over the next 5 days, 
thousands died from starvation, dehydration, disease, heat prostration, 
and sheer exhaustion. Survivors of the Death March of Bataan tell of 
the horrific atrocities of their captors. Prisoners were beaten at 
random and denied food and water. Those who fell behind or stopped to 
help fallen comrades were executed. One survivor tells the story of 
Japanese soldiers driving alongside the column of weary men with 
outstretched bayonets, slicing throats and decapitating those poor 
souls who happened to get in the way. The sides of the trail were 
littered with the bodies of the dead. There are no words that can 
describe such horrendous barbarity and inhumanity. It is estimated that 
54,000 of the 75,000 who started the march made it to Camp O'Donnell--a 
death rate of about 1 in 4. Many more would meet their deaths at the 
Camp. But there were also those who made it.
  A hero is someone who displays courage, bravery, and perseverance in 
the face of great adversity. Those who survived the Bataan Death March 
exhibited a heroism that we rarely see today. One of those heroes is 
from my hometown of Casper, WY, the Reverend Leonard L. Robinson. 
Leonard is my friend and neighbor. In fact, I had the privilege as a 
surgeon to replace both of his knees.
  Leonard L. Robinson was born in Englewood, CO, and spent his youth 
growing up in the Englewood and Denver area. While attending college at 
the University of Colorado, Leonard was drafted to the U.S. Army in 
1941. He was assigned to Battery E of the 200th Coast Artillery 
Regiment, Anti-Aircraft, at Fort Bliss, TX. In September 1941, he was 
shipped out to Fort Stotsenburg in the Philippines. Leonard was in the 
first group of U.S. soldiers captured at Cabcaben and started the march 
out of Bataan towards Camp O'Donnell. He was then held as a Japanese 
prisoner of war for 3\1/2\ years; 2 of

[[Page S7638]]

those years were spent as a forgotten slave on the docks of Niigata. At 
the war's end, he returned to Fort Logan, CO, where he was discharged 
from the U.S. Army.
  Upon his discharge in 1946, Leonard returned to school on the G.I. 
bill and earned his bachelor of science in architectural engineering 
from the University of Colorado. He then attended Northwestern Seminary 
in Minneapolis, where he earned his bachelor of theology. He later 
earned his master's and doctorate in theology from Pioneer Seminary in 
Rockford, IL. Throughout his years as an ordained pastor, he served in 
Wyoming, Washington, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Colorado before 
returning back to Wyoming. He has served as Chaplain for military, law 
enforcement and veterans groups. Leonard and his wife Erma enjoyed 53 
years together and they were blessed with three children, Paula 
Chelewski, Len Robinson, and Pamela Robinson, as well as two 
grandchildren. His beloved Erma passed away in 2005. Mr. President, the 
life example of Rev. Leonard Robinson has taught so many to appreciate 
and be thankful for the blessings of life.
  This week, all the eyes of Wyoming will be on Cheyenne as we kick off 
the annual Daddy of 'Em All, Cheyenne Frontier Days. And I am proud to 
announce that Wyoming will honor Leonard as he leads the Cheyenne 
Frontier Days Parade on Tuesday, July 21, as its grand marshal. It is 
but a small tribute to this brave man who sacrificed and suffered so 
much for our country, for you and for me.
  My father was a veteran of World War II. He fought in the Battle of 
the Bulge. My wife Bobbi's father was in both World War II and Korea. 
My dad always told me that I should thank God every day that I was born 
in America and how fortunate I was. He was right. This is the greatest 
country on Earth. And it is because of the sacrifices made by men like 
Rev. Leonard Robinson. I was so honored to greet him and his fellow 
veterans on the National Mall this spring when they made the Wyoming 
Honor Flight trip to Washington to visit the World War II Memorial. He 
is a hero in every sense of the word. Leonard, thank you my friend. All 
of Wyoming, and indeed America, is proud of you.

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