[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 25064-25065]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               A TRIBUTE TO JAMES ``ROCKY'' ROBINSON, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 16, 2009

  Mr. TOWNS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of James 
``Rocky'' Robinson, Jr., founder of the Bedford Stuyvesant Volunteer 
Ambulance Corps (BSVAC) and an inspiration to the community of 
Brooklyn.
  James (``Rocky'') Robinson, Jr. was born on July 15, 1940, in 
Marietta, North Carolina, to Betty and James Robinson. When he was 
still an infant, his family moved to Brooklyn, New York, where Rocky 
was raised. After attending Eastern District High School in the 
Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, Rocky served five years in the United 
States Army. His army duty included serving as a member of the Honor 
Guard, posted at the Arlington National Cemetery, where he stood guard 
during the visits of Jackie Kennedy and her children to John F. 
Kennedy's grave.
  After leaving the military, Rocky joined New York City's Emergency 
Medical Service (EMS) where he served the city for more than 30 years, 
before retiring in 2000. His career with EMS was marked by many 
accomplishments. In 1977 he was promoted to Lieutenant, and in 1994 he 
became a Captain. Through his work with EMS, Rocky witnessed the crisis 
in emergency medical services in New York's minority communities. To 
respond to these crises, in 1988 Rocky co-founded the Bedford-
Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corps (``BSVAC''), America's first 
minority volunteer ambulance corps.
  The remarkable story of Rocky and BSVAC has been told in print, on 
the radio and on television. BSVAC first began operations with no 
ambulance and no volunteers, at a point when the response time in 
Bedford-Stuyvesant for city ambulances averaged about 30 minutes. In 
the beginning, Rocky and his partner, Spec. Joe Perez, responded on 
foot to the calls they heard on their police radio. Eventually, BSVAC 
established a record-breaking ambulance service that has responded to 
over 400 emergency calls a month with an average response time of less 
than four minutes.
  Through BSVAC, Rocky has worked tirelessly to help the Bedford-
Stuyvesant community. Rocky designed a comprehensive emergency medical 
training program including trauma troopers, First Responders, and youth 
corps. To date, thousands of local residents have been trained to save 
lives in emergencies. In addition, hundreds of young people have 
completed the youth corps program (basic EMT training); almost 100% of 
the graduates have become EMTs or have otherwise pursued careers in 
medicine as a nurse, physician's assistant, or doctor. Although he has 
concentrated his efforts on Bed-Stuy,

[[Page 25065]]

Rocky has reached out to other minority communities, from Harlem to Los 
Angeles, providing emergency medical training and assistance in setting 
up programs. Closer to home, in 1993, Rocky responded to the first 
World Trade Center incident with BSVAC; he also responded on 9/11 when 
BSVAC volunteers saved a firefighter's life.
  Rocky's ability to inspire led him to being chosen to address the 
Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas in 1994. For his 
remarkable accomplishments and ongoing efforts, Rocky has received 
numerous awards, including: Robin Hood Foundation Hero of the Year 
Award, New York City Award, American Institute for Public Service 
Jefferson Award, Points of Light Award (Awarded by George Bush), and 
Maxwell House Hero Search Award. Among the many honors he has received, 
Rocky was selected to carry the Olympic torch down Fifth Avenue in New 
York City, en route to Atlanta, in 1996. Rocky's status as a hero was 
even recognized by the children of Wilkes Country Elementary School in 
North Carolina, who named him as their black hero in 1998. (Choosing 
him by a landslide over the other candidates, including Michael 
Jordan). Of all the honors and awards that Rocky has earned, he 
describes his greatest reward as the satisfaction he enjoys from seeing 
young people succeed in medical careers after training with BSVAC.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing James 
``Rocky'' Robinson, an ``on-call,'' unselfish community servant.

                          ____________________