ROBINSON, EDWARD
Name: Edward Robinson
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army
Unit: 175th RR Company, 303rd RR Battalion, 509th RR Group
Date of Birth: 22 March 1942
Home City of Record: Kansas City MO
Date of Loss: 09 March 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam/Over Water
Loss Coordinates: 084357N 1062745E (XQ792656)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 5
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Raft
Refno: 1569
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published
sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: SP6 Edward Robinson a member of the 175th Radio Research Company,
303rd Radio Research Battalion, 509th Radio Research (RR) Group. "Radio
Research" was actually a secret cover designation for certain units
operating under the direction of the U.S. Army Security Agency Group,
Vietnam. All missions of this agency were highly classified. Robinson's unit
apparently operated under USASA through its 303rd Battalion headquarters at
Long Binh. All of the missions of the 303rd Battalion were classified during
the war.
On March 9, 1970, SP6 Robinson was on Temporary Duty assignment (TDY) to
Detachment 2, 175th Radio Research Company on Con Son Island 60 miles off
the southern coast of South Vietnam, the location of the Coast Guard NORAN
station. He was off duty and went for a swim at the beach.
That same day, SP5 Leon A. Jones went swimming about 1400 hours. He noticed
some military clothing on the beach (which was later determined to be
Robinson's), and an individual out in the bay about 1/2 mile offshore.
At 1605 hours a Vietnamese national reported that he had seen an individual
on a raft making gestures indicating that he needed help. It was determined
that the individual was probably SP6 Robinson as all other members of the
detachment were present.
At about 1630 hours a boat from the NORAN station was launched and retrieved
the raft without SP6 Robinson from that vicinity. An extensive search was
conducted until dark and resumed the following day and continued until 18
March, without success.
Robinson's is one of the unfortunate accidental deaths that occur wherever
people are. The fact that he died an accidental death in the midst of war is
tragically ironic. He is listed among the missing with honor, because his
body was never found to be returned to the country he served.
Others who are missing do not have such clear cut cases. Some were known
captives; some were photographed as they were led by their guards. Some were
in radio contact with search teams, while others simply disappeared.
Since the war ended, over 250,000 interviews have been conducted with those
who claim to know about Americans still alive in Southeast Asia, and several
million documents have been studied. U.S. Government experts cannot seem to
agree whether Americans are there alive or not. Distractors say it would be
far too politically difficult to bring the men they believe to be alive
home, and the U.S. is content to negotiate for remains.
Over 1000 eye-witness reports of living American prisoners were received by
1989. Most of them are still classified. If, as the U.S. seems to believe,
the men are all dead, why the secrecy after so many years? If the men are
alive, why are they not home?
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