Branch: Coast Guard
Unit: USCGC Bibb (WPG 31)
Service Location: New York; Sandy Hook, Connecticut; New London, Connecticut; Bizerte, Tunisia; Palermo, Italy; Atlantic Ocean; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Pacific Theater; European Theater
Rank: Pharmacist’s Mate Second Class
Irwin “Rocky” Robinson was a shipping clerk when he enlisted in the Coast Guard, sweet-talked into that branch by a clever recruiter who saw him standing in a long line to join the Navy. Robinson became a Pharmacist’s Mate aboard the lead ship in a convoy, with the only doctor for miles and miles around. Their patients ranged from a buddy with an inflamed appendix to a German prisoner whom Robinson, a New York Jew, was able to communicate with in Yiddish. He saw action in North Africa, where he attended services in a historic temple during the High Holy Days; Sicily; and in the Pacific, where they dodged kamikaze planes. In his spare time, Robinson did a little boxing, which is how he earned his nickname.
We honor you, Irwin “Rocky” Robinson.
(#Repost @https://www.loc.gov/vets/stories/cgmm-coastguard.html)