Every year on or around Memorial Day weekend I watch the entire Band of Brothers series. I watch it because it reminds me so much of the family I have with my brothers of the 507th Medical Company. It was just 23 years and a couple of weeks when we returned to the states from Desert Storm, or what they call “the first Gulf War”. Like many units that go to combat, we unfortunately did not come back with everyone. We lost three crewmembers to the enemy; 1LT Daniel Graybeal, CWO Kerry Heine, and SSG Michael Robson. They gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. To understand that loss better, below is the article of SSG Robson’s death soon after he was buried. “SSG Michael R. Robsons Huey helicopter was shot down at night while on a Medevac mission over Saudi Arabia on February 27, 1991. He was buried in McAlister Cemetery, Carter County, Oklahoma. He was survived by his wife Lisa Robson, and four sons. ------------------------------------------------------ From the San Antonio-Express News, March 15, 1991 Staff Sgt. Michael R. Robson: Fort Sam copter medic widow says her husband died a hero Staff Sgt. Michael R. Robson, a medic with the 507th Medical Co. Air Ambulance at Fort Sam Houston, died a hero during Operation Desert Storm, his widow said Thursday during a visit to San Antonio. Robson, 30, and two other members of the four-man crew were killed in the Persian Gulf last month while attempting to rescue an injured pilot in a downed A-10 anti-tank airplane. Funeral services for Robson, the father of four boys, were held Wednesday in Oklahoma. He was buried at McAlister Cemetery in Overbrook, a small community south of Ardmore, Okla. His widow, Lisa, and her father, Jim Richards, flew to San Antonio on Thursday to take care of family business before returning to Oklahoma. Even though she does not know whether it was enemy fire or mechanical failure that led the helicopter her husband was flying in to crash, she believes he was a hero. In my eyes he is (a hero) because he was very dedicated to the military and he went over there with such a good attitude. He was really proud to go, she said. Knowing that he was prepared to die has made it less difficult to cope with his death, she said. If he had gone over there not wanting to go, it would have been very difficult for me. But he had such a good attitude about going, she said, recalling that her husband had a smile on his face when he and other members of the 507th departed on Dec. 20. A day before her husbands funeral, she told the Daily Ardmoreite that he would not have wanted to die any other way than on a volunteer mission in which he was trying to help someone else. I want people to know what these guys did and what everyone else is doing over there, she said. I dont want to focus on my own grief. These guys didnt have to do this and they did. They were dedicated enough to go out and do this. And in all the excitement of the returning troops, in the fervor of homecoming plans and patriotic salutes, she wants people to remember the war was not bloodless. Nine-year veteran Robson was a nine-year Army veteran who started out working with missiles but who for the past year served as a medic with the 507th Medical Co. Air Ambulance. He married Lisa, an Ardmore-area native, in 1986, adopting her two sons. He left four sons behind when he died - Mathew, 12; Michael, 9; Zachary, 3; and Tyrell, 1. Lisa Robson talked to her husband on Feb. 11, his 30th birthday. On Feb. 28, military officials arrived at their house with the news of his death. They wont say exactly where they (Robson and his crew) were, but they were in hostile territory, she said. All four of them agreed to volunteer to go after the injured pilot. Right now they dont know if the reason the rotor stopped was because of enemy fire or technical difficulties. When the rotor stopped, the helicopter started spinning. They start spinning counterclockwise, like theyre unwinding. She said the pilot regained control for a few seconds, but then lost control a second time. A soldier was thrown from the helicopter when it started spinning a second time. His only injury was a broken leg. He saw the helicopter go down and how he did it I dont know, but he tried to get to them. The helicopter blew up twice. The second time, it knocked Spc. Wright (the injured crewmember) out. The helicopter never made it to the downed pilot. Weve had a great loss. My husband was a very dedicated husband and father and we hate to lose him, she said, but the guy who tried to get to him is probably having a really hard time of it, too. Lisa Robson said seeing the homecoming celebrations of more fortunate soldiers bothers her somewhat, but she is still pleased to see them. Im glad the people are behind these soldiers so much, she said. It makes them do their job that much better and it makes the families feel better. Source: San Antonio-Express News, San Antonio, TX, March 15, 1991 God Bless all of those that have served in protecting the freedoms of the American people.
Posted on: Mon, 26 May 2014 16:20:29 +0000
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