Freedom isn’t free…Someone had to pay

Local veteran remembers service in WW II

By Ashlyn Tubbs, Clarendon Enterprise

 Joe Robinson is a man rarely seen without wearing his cowboy hat and a smile on his face. Leasing land from the JA Ranch for more than 40 years, he is known largely for his ranch work and accomplishments within the Donley County community, winning the Pioneer Man of the Year for 2009.

These are not considered his biggest achievements, though.

During one point in Robinson’s life, he was not sure if he would ever return to the United States, when he left his family in the Texas Panhandle during World War II to serve his country 20,000 feet off the ground.

“Nothing is pleasant when something like that happens,” he said. “It’s something you have to do, it’s not necessarily something you want to do. I’m proud of my service, and I’m proud of my country, so I didn’t flinch because I had to go.”

Born in Hereford and raised in Denton County, Robinson graduated from Texas A&M in 1942, which he said reveals he is not a spring chicken. He became commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army and was sent to Ft. Knox, instead of Ft. Riley where he initially wanted to attend. Although he was disappointed at first, Robinson said he now views this as a blessing.

“They actually did me a favor,” he said. “Those who went to Ft. Riley trained with horses; and when they went overseas, they didn’t know they weren’t going to have their horses shipped to them.”

During his time at Ft. Knox, he trained with tanks for about six months until he discovered an opportunity he could not pass up.

“They were losing a lot of pilots and had started daylight bombing in Europe, and they needed pilots,” he said, “so I volunteered.”

Robinson began his pilot training in Florida and picked up a brand new airplane in Savanna, Ga. He flew with a 10-man crew to Nutscorner, Ireland, at age 21.

“If you don’t think that won’t get your attention out there over the ocean for about ten hours with nothing in sight,” he said, “you’re wrong.”

Robinson depended on a navigator, who was a graduate from Ohio State, to direct him to their proper destination.

“If you were two degrees off, you would miss the British Isles, if you got careless, and fly over France and get shot down before you ever got in combat,” he said. “The Germans didn’t care where you were from, they just wanted to shoot you down.”

His crewmembers consisted of three other officers and six gunners from states including Kentucky, Ohio, New Jersey, California, Arkansas and Indiana. Promoted to lead pilot, the lives of these men became in Robinson’s hands.

“It was a lot of responsibility to be in charge of everyone, and I didn’t take it lightly because a lot of things depend on what you decide,” he said. “Your judgment has to be better than it should be.”

Once landing in Nutscorner, the crew members and Robinson took a train unto Belfast and the British furnished their breakfast, which consisted of hot tea and rock-hard navy beans.

“So we didn’t eat very much,” he said. “It was different when you stay in a foreign country for the first time with the different houses, vehicles, and everything. It was an experience.”

He vividly remembers his first night spent overseas.

“They put these huts in the fields and they scattered them so they would be hard to hit, and the first night I was there, the German’s plane got in there and bombed our barracks,” he said. “Luckily, the dropped bombs missed the barracks and just threw dirt and rocks all over them.”

“That kind of got our attention. We didn’t sleep very good that night. I went to the bomb shelter because I didn’t know whether there was going to be more or not. I didn’t know what was going on”

This would be only one of his many encounters with bombs. While in London during a three day pass, Robinson said 169 buzz bombs hit that night.

“It was the worst night of the war,” he said. “That evening, the train stopped going into London and I knew we weren’t at the station yet. Turns out, he stopped for a buzz bomb to go past. Those British people had to put up with a lot.”

Robinson’s first mission was to deliver supplies to the marquis for the French underground.

“We went down a valley and they said there would be smoke signals there,” he said, “so we dropped our supplies and we flew back over the mountain and people were just waving at us.”

He said that was a beautiful day, without a cloud in the sky. He got to view the Eifel Tower as they flew over Paris and remembers the pretty scenery with a twinkle in his eye.

“I wasn’t mad at anybody,” he said. “I was like, ‘Boy, this looks pretty peaceful’.”

However, right about then, his plane got hit with flack from another plane. That was all it took to change Robinson’s initial mindset.

“Four little ol’ holes came into the wing not far from me,” he said, “If it would have been over about three feet, it would’ve been right under me.”

Robinson flew a B17 plane complete with thirteen 50-caliber guns in formation with 36 other planes, sometimes his wing fitting almost inside another plane’s wing while turning.

“You had to pay attention,” he said. “You couldn’t be joking off, because if they turn, they didn’t always tell you and weather conditions also affected the formation. They won’t let you fly that close now-a-days, unless you are in the service. The closer the formation, the better fire power you have.”

Robinson and his crew flew formation during daytime, while the British flew at nighttime. He said the 24-hour bombing was relentless.

“I can see why those Germans would be mad at you if you got shot down,” he said. “You would hope the army got to you before the civilians did, because you’re tearing up their houses and killing their families.”

Robinson said the United States’ anger toward Germany was evident by how Munich had very little houses with roofs on them from the bombs.

“We just tore that city all to pieces,” he said. “Munich is now built on top of the rubble from all the bombings.”

Robinson and his crewmembers had plenty of close calls during their missions. He said they once got hit in the bomb bay and had 54 holes in the plane when he finally landed, but no one was hurt.

Another time, Robinson made a decision that saved their lives while making a raid on Munich. During the long flight, Robinson said the plane began to run out of gas. He immediately left the European coast and started letting down from 20,000 feet to a main landing place in England.

After calling in to receive permission to land, he was luckily right in front of the runway, but another plane flew into the other side of the landing, which had wounded aboard. Robinson decided to chance the landing and missed the opposite plane by about 20 seconds. He will never regret this decision.

“When I turned off the runway, I gave the outboard No. 4 engine the gas and it quit on me because it was out of gas,” he said. “And when I parked the plane, I gave the No.1 engine the gas to park it, and it was out of gas. So if I had tried to go around, I never would have made it. Things like that you remember.”

Although Robinson was able to keep all of his crew members safe, he lost two men from his crew after they filled in for another crew’s members: one was taken prisoner of war and survived, the other died in a plane crash.

“I got pretty attached to all of them,” he said. “The rest of my crew and I were lucky we never had much firing activity.”

Even though Robinson went on 30 missions, he said the only thing that became routine was making sure everyone set their watches by the second because two or three seconds could make a huge difference in their formation. He said his bravery largely came from being in his twenties.

“When you’re young, you don’t worry much,” he said. “I thought I was bulletproof, and I guess I was because I never did get a Purple Heart.”

Another close call Robinson experienced was during his last raid, one he said made him sweat. The raid was on Berlin, and German fighters hiding in the sunlight knocked down 13 of their 36 planes.

“I never did worry much until the last mission,” he said, “and then I thought, ‘I want to go home’.”

Robinson did not have to wait much longer. After surpassing the required 100 points by seven from his missions ran and medals received, he was released to return home after serving three-and-a-half years.

“It was great to get back into the United States,” he said. “I came back with a whole bunch of troops and I was greeted once I got to Amarillo. My folks were in Dalhart then.”

Robinson’s favorite part of the war by far was returning home, he said.

“Home is always the best place,” he said. “There’s always some place that may look a little greener on the other side, but I don’t know whether it is or not once you get there.”

In honor of his service, Robinson has received three separate medals for his many missions completed and surviving the war.

“Now they’re pretty tarnished,” he said. “They wouldn’t pass inspection.”

He even received a medal from the French for helping raid the Germans.

“When the Frenchman awarded me with that medal, he kissed both my cheeks,” he said. “I didn’t know whether to break and run or hit him.”

Robinson is the only remaining survivor of his crew. He said he kept in touch and even exchanged Christmas cards with most of them up until their deaths.

He believes in the importance of veterans sharing their experiences with younger generations in order to prevent future mistakes and wars.

“I want them to find out what happened where they won’t get in the same mess we were in, because it’s no fun,” he said. “It’s a shame to kill so many young people and tear up so much. Killing people was worse that tearing up the town.”

After hearing Robinson’s war stories, his wife, Ruth Robinson, feels indebted to the young men like her husband and brothers who served in the war.

“I’ve really appreciated it and found out all that WWII was about,” she said. “Back then, I did not know. I guess when you’re that age in high school, you just didn’t understand. I realize how much we owe these young kids who flew over there, taking off over that big, dark ocean. I had no idea back then about the sacrifices they made. “

Without the service of crews such as Robinson’s during WWII, he said the US would be speaking German today.

“Freedom is not free,” he said. “Someone had to pay for it.”