Unit/Command: Battery A, 861st Field Artillery Battalion, 63d Infantry Division
Military Service Branch: U.S. Army
Medal of Honor Action Date: April 6, 1945
Medal of Honor Action Place: near Untergriesheim, Germany
Citation
He was a field artillery observer attached to Company A, 253d Infantry, near Untergriesheim, Germany, on 6 April 1945. Eight hours of desperate fighting over open terrain swept by German machine-gun, mortar, and small-arms fire had decimated Company A, robbing it of its commanding officer and most of its key enlisted personnel, when 1st Lt. Robinson rallied the 23 remaining uninjured riflemen and a few walking wounded, and, while carrying his heavy radio for communications with American batteries, led them through intense fire in a charge against the objective. Ten German infantrymen in foxholes threatened to stop the assault, but the gallant leader killed them all at point-blank range with rifle and pistol fire and then pressed on with his men to sweep the area of all resistance. Soon afterward he was ordered to seize the defended town of Kressbach. He went to each of the 19 exhausted survivors with cheering words, instilling in them courage and fortitude, before leading the little band forward once more. In the advance he was seriously wounded in the throat by a shell fragment, but, despite great pain and loss of blood, he refused medical attention and continued the attack, directing supporting artillery fire even though he was mortally wounded. Only after the town had been taken and he could no longer speak did he leave the command he had inspired in victory and walk nearly two miles to an aid station where he died from his wounds. By his intrepid leadership 1st Lt. Robinson was directly responsible for Company A's accomplishing its mission against tremendous odds.
Medal of Honor Recipient James E. Robinson Jr.
Additional Details
Accredited to: Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Awarded Posthumously: Yes
Born: July 10, 1918, Toledo, Lucas County, OH, United States
Died: April 6, 1945, Germany
Buried: Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery (MH) (T-98), San Antonio, TX, United States