JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – At 99 years old, Willie Robinson Sr., a World War II veteran living on Jacksonville’s Northside, has no intention of slowing down.
On Veterans Day, he’s reminded of the years he served in the U.S. Army during the World War as well as the Korean War.
Following Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Congress required all able-bodied men ages 18 to 64 to register for the draft. Robinson said he eagerly enlisted, despite not knowing what to expect in the days, months and years ahead.
″We were traveling. We had a leader and he led us to which way we had to go. Some went left, some went right and some went straight ahead,” Robinson recalled.
Robinson served as a telephone lineman and truck driver, tasked with the dangerous job of maintaining communications and delivering supplies.
“You go from company to company,” he said. “We had about 15 to 20 guys who got killed, going from company to company.
Williams Henry Cherry Jr., his younger brother, remembers the feeling of not knowing whether Robinson would make it back home alive.
“What would ease my mind, we would get these letters and they would have stuff blocked out. And they didn’t want to tell us where he was at,” Cherry said.
Robinsons’ service to the country inspired his two sons to also join the Army.
He says if he had to do it all again, there would be no question -- he’d answer America’s call.
Robinson will celebrate his 100th birthday in April. His family says it plans to take him fishing, one of his favorite pastimes.