General Ray Albert Robinson (June 1, 1896 – March 26, 1976) was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

general who served in the Corps more than 40 years. His long and colorful career included service in France during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(as aide-de-camp to Smedley D. Butler), action at

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

and

Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, sea duty, and China service between World Wars. He also served in 1929 as officer in charge of the Marine detachment which built President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

Rapidan Camp Rapidan Camp (also known at times as Camp Hoover) in Shenandoah National Park in Madison County, Virginia, was built by U.S. President Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover, and served as their rustic retreat throughout Hoover's admini ...

mountain retreat near Criglersville, Virginia. Robinson twice earned the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

with Combat "V" during World War II — the first for outstanding service in July and August 1944, as chief of staff of the 3d Marine Division during the planning and execution of the recapture of Guam; and the second for outstanding service from October 1944 to March 1945, as chief of staff of the 5th Marine Division during the preparation and combat phases of the Iwo Jima campaign. After the Iwo Jima campaign, Robinson was made assistant commander of the 5th Marine Division, earning the

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

for his service in that capacity during the

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...

Biography

Robinson was born on June 1, 1896, in

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, where he attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

before enlisting in the Marine Corps on May 21, 1917. After completing his

recruit training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which Resocialization, resocializes its subjects for ...

, he was commissioned a second lieutenant on October 9, 1917, and during the next year, he completed the course at the Officer's Training School, Quantico, Virginia, and joined the newly activated

13th Marine Regiment The 13th Marine Regiment (13th Marines) was an artillery regiment of the United States Marine Corps. The regiment was activated for service three times during the 20th century when the Marine Corps expanded to meet war time requirements. Origin ...

World War I

After intensive training with the 13th Marines, he embarked with that regiment for France in September 1918. Overseas he saw service as aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler.

Inter-war years

Robinson returned from France in July 1919, and was stationed at Quantico until September 1921. He sailed shortly afterward to begin a two-year tour of duty at the Marine barracks,

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. Returning to the

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

in December 1923, he served briefly at Headquarters, Department of the Pacific, San Francisco, California, before he was ordered to San Diego, California, in February 1924. There he served in a number of capacities, including duty with the staff of the commanding general, Western Mail Guard, during a wave of railway mail robberies. On completing that assignment, he joined the

4th Marine Regiment The 4th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Based at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, Japan, it is part of the 3rd Marine Division of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. Mission 4th Marine Regiment conducts littoral ...

in January 1927, sailing with that unit for

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

the following month. In China, he later served on the staff of the commanding general, 3rd Marine Brigade, at

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, and at

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

as the Chinese Kuomintang Army advanced northward. Robinson returned from China in March 1929, and the following month, he reported to Quantico, where he was attached while serving that summer as officer in charge of the Marine detachment at President Hoover's summer camp. In September 1929, he entered the Company Officers Course in the Marine Corps Schools at Quantico, which he completed in June 1930. He then served briefly at San Diego before going to sea in October 1930, as commander of the Marine detachment aboard the . Completing that tour of duty in September 1932, he was ordered to the Marine barracks at the

Puget Sound Navy Yard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...

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, where he served in various capacities for almost three years. In August 1935, Robinson was again ordered to Quantico, where he served as post maintenance officer and safety engineer before entering the Senior Course in August, 1938. Graduating in May 1939, he was ordered once more to China. There he served successively as executive and operations officer of the Marine detachment at the American Embassy,

Beiping "Beijing" is from pinyin ''Běijīng,'' which is romanized from , the Chinese name for this city. The pinyin system of transliteration was approved by the Chinese government in 1958, but little used until 1979. It was gradually adopted by various ...

; as commander of the Marine detachment at Tianjin, and as commander of Marine Forces, North China, and the embassy detachment at Beiping. He returned to the United States in June 1941, and the following month, he reported to Marine Corps Headquarters,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, to become assistant officer in charge of the personnel section, Division of Plans and Policies. He took charge of that section in April 1942. Thus, in 1942, when the

commandant of the Marine Corps Commandant of the Marine Corps may refer to: * Commandant of the Marine Corps (Indonesia) * Commandant of the Netherlands Marine Corps * Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps * Commandant of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps * Commandant of th ...

issued orders to recruit and train

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

, the task of recruiting and training new African-American Marines fell to then-Colonel Robinson. Robinson sought the help of the Selective Service in this task. He served in the personnel section until October 1943, when he was named officer in charge of the operations and training section.

World War II

Leaving Washington in January 1944, Robinson embarked for the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, where he became chief of staff of the

3rd Marine Division The 3rd Marine Division is a division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry division ...

the following month. He was named chief of staff of the 5th Division in October 1944, serving in that capacity until June 1945, when he was named assistant commander of the 5th Division. He returned with that division from Japan in December 1945, and after the division was disbanded, he went back overseas in March 1946, as fleet Marine officer on the staff of the commander in chief, Pacific Ocean Area. He held that position until September 1946, when he became chief of staff,

Fleet Marine Force The United States Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) are combined general and special forces within the United States Department of the Navy that perform offensive amphibious or expeditionary warfare and defensive maritime employment. The Fleet Marine ...

Post-war service

In August 1947, Robinson reported again to Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, where he served as director of the Division of Plans and Policies for almost two years. After that he was Inspector General of the Marine Corps from July 1949, until June 1950, when he took command of the

2nd Marine Division The 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV) is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF). The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina a ...

Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune ( or ) is a United States military training facility in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Its of beaches make the base a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports ( ...

, North Carolina. He served in that capacity until December 1951, and subsequently, as

commanding general The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of camp Lejeune until August 1952, when he was appointed commanding general of the

Department of the Pacific The Department of the Pacific or Pacific Department was a major command ( Department) of the United States Army from 1853 to 1858. It replaced the Pacific Division, and was itself replaced by the Department of California and the Department of O ...

at San Francisco, California. He left San Francisco in June 1954, and two months later was ordered to

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as chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group to

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Relieved by Major General John C. McQueen, Robinson was transferred to Norfolk in October 1956. Robinson served there as commanding general of Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, from November 1, 1956, until his retirement from the Marine Corps on November 1, 1957. He was advanced to four-star rank on retirement by reason of having been specially commended for heroism in combat.Robinson was promoted to four-star general on retirement under provision of the Act of February 23, 1942. See General Robinson died in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, on March 26, 1976, at age 79.

Awards and decorations

General Robinson's awards include:

Notes

References

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