A heavenly happy birthday to my late uncle – Gwynn H Robinson

BIRTH 16 Sep 1920

New York County, New York, USA

Gwynn Herndon Robinson, a retired Major General USAF passed away at home on Nov. 7, 2010 following several months of declining health.
Born in New York in 1920 to a family of limited means, he began his long list of accomplishments with a series of scholastic scholarships to the best known private schools in the East. He graduated from Choate in 1938, accepted M.I.T.’s scholarship where he joined the R.O.T.C. enjoying his first contact with the military.
Gwynn was introduced to the world of horsemanship and chose to join Squadron A: 101st Cavalry, New York Nat’l Guard. He completed its officer candidate course at the head of his class. Next application to flight school was accepted and he reported to flight training – Dec. 10, 1941. He won his wings and his 2nd lieutenant’s commission and then on to B-26 training. In early 1943 he was a flight leader of one of the groups to ferry B-26s across the Atlantic to Africa.
After a month of routine patrols, Gwynn’s first combat mission was on August 23, 1943. Approaching a Luftwaffe airfield near Rome, his B-26 lost an engine to antiaircraft fire. He continued his bomb run, hit the target and turned for home, but could not keep up with the group on one engine. Flying dangerously low over the Mediterranean, his wounded plane was attacked by a dozen Messerschmitts. Robinson’s gunners shot five of them down, and the rest broke off. Realizing he could not make the safety of Sicily, and with three of his crew wounded, Gwynn made a harrowing water landing 400 yards off the Italian-held island of Lipari, badly injuring his left arm and hand. Rescued under gunpoint, he and his crew were interned by Italians, but Lipari was soon to be evacuated and they were to be turned over to the Germans in Italy. Days later in the dark of night, he led his crew in a daring escape on a turbulent sea in a small boat. The “Yanks” were rescued by a British PT Boat and ultimately flown to a Palermo (Sicily) hospital.
Gwynn was awarded a Purple Heart and Air Medal. Defying all odds he recovered from his injuries after six months of hospitalization in the U.S. returning to active duty. Finishing his wartime service in the Pentagon training foreign nationals and attending the Army’s Command and General Staff College, he was promoted to Major and went on reserve status in 1946.
With the advent of the Korean War Gwynn was assigned deputy director of the USAF Wing in Paris, to be working with all NATO Nations. By the end of the USAF-NATO service, he had traveled all of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, made connections with the leaders of the day and helped streamline American Airpower in the Cold War era. He returned to civilian life and his business success was on the same scale. In 1958 he became marketing director for Northrop’s International division and by 1967, had become the number two executive in the corporation’s division with offices in Paris and Beverly Hills. Being #2 instead of #1 he accepted Alfred Bloomingdale’s offer to become chief executive officer and president of the new “Diner’s Club International” – revolutionary at the time and the start of the “credit card” concept.
In 1970 he returned to military service as a major general, USAF – becoming mobilization assistant for the 22nd Military Aircraft Command, periodically flying with reserve crews airlifting men and supplies to South Vietnam. He received the Distinguished Service Medal in 1980.
In 1991 he joined the board of directors of Veterans Park Conservancy, a nonprofit community public/private partnership dedicated to the preservation of four hundred acres of Federal land in West Los Angeles to honor our nation’s veterans.
Surviving relatives include his wife Maxine, daughters Catherine Robinson, Kendall Carter and son Gwynn M. Robinson, two grandchildren Shannon, Jonathan and numerous stepchildren.
Services will be held at Riverside Nat’l Cemetery, Dec. 1st, 11:00 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate memorial contributions to: Veterans Park Conservancy, 11661 San Vicente Blvd., L.A. 90049.
Published in the Los Angeles Times on November 21, 2010.