[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 26, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E541-E542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING DOCUMENTED ORIGINAL TUSKEGEE AIRMAN WALTER K. ROBINSON, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 26, 2017

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me

[[Page E542]]

in honoring the service of Documented Original Tuskegee Airman (DOTA) 
Walter K. Robinson, Sr. Tomorrow, I will welcome Mr. Robinson and his 
family to my office to celebrate his extraordinary service.
  Walter K. Robinson, Sr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1920, the 
second son of Dr. John C. Robinson and Mrs. Clara Denning Robinson. In 
1941, while attending Howard University in Washington, D.C., he 
volunteered for the Army Air Corps. He was sent to Camp Lee in 
Virginia, Keesler Field in Biloxi, Mississippi, and finally to Tuskegee 
Army Air Base in Tuskegee, Alabama. He began training at Tuskegee 
Institute for Basic Ground School, and after three months, continued in 
Pre-Flight, Primary, Basic, and Advanced Flight. During Primary 
Training, he had an accident in which he severed his Achilles tendon 
and was hospitalized for a year, enduring six operations and extensive 
physical therapy. When he was eventually able to return to full duty, 
he completed training, and while there, World War II ended. On November 
8, 1945, Mr. Robinson returned to civilian life, a few years after 
marrying his high school sweetheart, Edmonia Bailey.
  After his honorable discharge from the military, Mr. Robinson and his 
wife moved to Washington, D.C. in 1959. He worked for the U.S. Postal 
Service and retired after 35 years of service, rising through the ranks 
of the Post Office as Clerk, Station Manager and the second black 
Manager of Delivery and Collection for D.C. The Robinsons had one son, 
Walter K. Robinson, Jr. Sadly, Mr. Robinson's beloved wife, Edmonia 
Bailey Robinson, passed away in 2000, after 59 years of marriage. 
Today, Mr. Robinson still lives in Washington, D.C. and is a very 
active member of the East Coast Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen (ECCTAI, 
Inc.). Members of ECCTAI and the Tuskegee Airmen were well-deserving of 
the Congressional Gold Medal they collectively received in March 2007. 
It is an honor to have a Tuskegee Airman still living in the District, 
and I very much look forward to meeting and welcoming him and his 
family to my office tomorrow.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask the House to join me in honoring the service of 
Walter K. Robinson, Sr. and the extraordinary service and sacrifice 
also made by his brothers and sisters in World War II.

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