Walter Raymond Robinson, Jr.
Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps

When Lance Corporal Walter Raymond Robinson, Jr. arrived for his tour in Vietnam, he was assigned to H Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.

"On 30 April 1967, the enemy allowed Hotel Company to move to within 100 yards of their bunkers and then opened up with 12.7 mm caliber machine guns, automatic rifles, as well as sniper rifles with high powered scopes. There was an estimated 50 NVA soldiers dug into bunkers to our front and 15 on the right flank. The Company immediately began taking heavy casualties from the intense crossfire of an estimated two enemy platoons. The 2nd Platoon, under Lieutenant Griesmer, was on the left and the 3rd Platoon led by Lieutenant Givvin, on the right. They walked into an ambush crossfire that pinned down both platoons and the command group following behind the 3rd Platoon. The first reaction was to call for close air support to suppress the heavy enemy fire. The request was refused as we were too close to the enemy. A request for artillery, same answer. All that was left was Marines and their weapons. They could not see the enemy, but their fire was intense and deadly accurate. The 2nd Platoon quickly set up a base of fire on a small piece of high ground very close to the enemy position. Lieutenant Griesmer was hit early in the assault and, as soon he recovered his senses, called Hotel 6 on the Company frequency and told the Hotel 6 operator he had been hit. He recalls his first impression was he had been hit by a mortar and was blown in half. He had to retrieve one of the squad radios as his radio operator, Lance Corporal Knapp, had his radio blasted off his back by gun fire. Knapp was unconscious from the impact, but otherwise unhurt. Lieutenant Griesmer remembers slapping him until he regained consciousness."

"Hotel Company pulled back with its casualties and cleared the area for close air support strikes. We pulled back to the high ground to lick our wounds and take care of our wounded. Once we were out of the engagement area, Colonel Delong called in close air support and blasted the enemy positions. The billowing napalm rolled black smoke high into the daytime sky. Golf Company's Captain Jim Sheehan continued the attack and cleaned out the bunker complex that had ambushed us. Echo Company's Captain Al Lyons and Golf Company continued the attack off our left flank and eventually seized Hill 881 South. During this fight we experienced two problems that influenced our attack. In spite of frequent cleaning lessons learned from an earlier operation, the M-16 rifles jammed at a terrible rate. We also experienced a high occurrence of 60mm mortar ammunition failure. The rifle problem resulted in a furor that only ended when, I was told, the weapons were modified to correct deficiencies in design, manufacture and ammunition quality control. While Hotel Company took very heavy casualties in this fight, 12 KIA and 43 Wounded In Action, we inflicted 74 NVA KIA (confirmed) and at least 25 probable kills." [This description of the battle was written by Sgt Edson Bellis, 2/3/3 Hotel: He was there.]

LCpl Robinson was killed in action that day when he sustained wounds from small arms fire. His body was recovered.

The other 11 Marines killed were:

Sergeant Kenneth Orton Jr. Kenmore, NY
Corporal Troy Payne Jr. Smyrma, GA
Lance Corporal Perry Lee Peoples, Dodson, LA
Corporal Frederick Bivens Jr., Pocomoke MD
Private First Class Robert Cornell, Miami Springs, FL
Corporal Clifford Davis, Amarillo, TX
1st Lieutenant David Hackett, Ligonier, PA (Silver Star)
Corporal Jerome Hanrahan Jr.,Chicago, IL
Corporal Julius Kessler III, New York, NY
Hospital Corpsman Richard Kinney, USN, West Frankfurt, IL
Private First Class Scott Richardson, Melbourne, FL

Medals and Awards

Purple Heart
Combat Action Ribbon
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal

Honors

The name Walter R Robinson Jr is located on Panel 18E Line 127 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.