| Irwin Robinson |
Detail from a photo of Robinson standing at his battle station on the USS Bibb, Atlantic [1943] | World War, 1939-1945
Coast Guard
USCGC Bibb (WPG 31)
New York; Sandy Hook, Connecticut; New London, Connecticut; Bizerte, Tunisia; Palermo, Italy; Atlantic Ocean; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Pacific Theater; European Theater
Pharmacist's Mate Second Class
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Irwin "Rocky" Robinson was a shipping clerk when he enlisted in the Coast Guard,
sweet-talked into that branch by a clever recruiter who saw him standing in a long line to
join the Navy. Robinson became a Pharmacist’s Mate aboard the lead ship in a convoy,
with the only doctor for miles and miles around. Their patients ranged from a buddy with
an inflamed appendix to a German prisoner whom Robinson, a New York Jew, was able
to communicate with in Yiddish. He saw action in North Africa, where he attended
services in a historic temple during the High Holy Days; Sicily; and in the Pacific, where
they dodged kamikaze planes. In his spare time, Robinson did a little boxing, which is
how he earned his nickname.
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