[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 205 (Friday, December 4, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF WALTER K. ROBINSON, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                        of district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, December 4, 2020

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in remembering the life and legacy of Walter 
K. Robinson, Sr., a District of Columbia resident for over 50 years and 
a Documented Original Tuskegee Airman. Mr. Robinson died on November 
23, 2020, his 100th birthday. Mr. Robinson will be remembered by his 
family, friends and the East Coast Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, of 
which he was an active member.
  In 1941, while attending Howard University, Mr. Robinson 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, severing his Achilles tendon, and was hospitalized for almost 
a year, enduring six operations and extensive physical therapy. Yet, 
Mr. Robinson completed Primary, Lower, and Upper Basic Training, and 
while he was in Lower Advanced, World War II ended. After his honorable 
discharge from the military, Mr. Robinson and his wife, Edmonia, moved 
to D.C. in 1959. He soon joined the Postal Service and rose through the 
ranks to become the second Black Manager of Delivery and Collection for 
the District.
  I had the immense honor of hosting Mr. Robinson at my office in 2017, 
where I presented him with a bronze replica of the Tuskegee Airmen 
Congressional Gold Medal. Mr. Robinson is emblematic of the many D.C. 
residents who have heroically sacrificed so much for their country, 
even without their full citizenship rights. I am proud to have been 
able to honor his service.
  Tuskegee Airmen like Mr. Robinson did more than protect America from 
foreign enemies during World War II; they saved America from itself, 
defying the gross misconception that African Americans were not capable 
of flying and fighting as equal servicemembers. The accomplishments of 
these brave servicemembers helped pave the way for President Harry 
Truman's decision to integrate the military in 1948. Their service to 
this country and as history-shapers was recognized in 2007 when 300 
members of the Tuskegee Airmen, including Mr. Robinson, received the 
Congressional Gold Medal.
  I ask the House of Representatives to join me in remembering the life 
and legacy of Walter K. Miller, Sr.

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