Richard Scott Robinson, Jr. was born at Summit County, Ohio on June 20, 1923. His father was Richard Scott Robinson (12 Mar 1902 – 24 Dec 1991), who was born on the family farm in Wood County, West Virginia. His father married a woman from Pennsylvania about 1922, and had children Richard S. Robinson Jr (him) and his brother John LeRoy Robinson (1924 – 5 Jul 1947). His mother might have died between 1924 and 1927, because on March 28, 1927 his father married Mildred Irene (Wegman) Robinson (4 Sep 1905 – 18 Mar 1994). Mildred was born at Franklin Township, Portage County, Ohio (near Kent, Ohio); the marriage took place at New Cumberland, Hancock County, West Virginia. In 1930 the family lived at Akron, Summit County, Ohio, and his father was employed as a truck driver. In 1940 the family lived at 4607 Wichita Avenue, Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and his father was an electrician for an aluminum company. His parents and brother moved to Casa Grande, Pinal County, Arizona about 1946.

He completed four years of high school, and worked as a semiskilled welder and flame cutter. He was single, without dependents, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps at Camp Perry in Lacarne, Ohio on December 3, 1942. His home of record was Maple Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

He completed Army Air Forces radio operator and aerial gunnery training, and was assigned as radio operator on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph P. Willis in the 838th Bomb Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group. The Willis crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52577 overseas via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

On May 29, 1944 the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons of B-24s to bomb the oil refinery at Politz, Germany (which is now Police, Poland). After leaving the target, the formation was attacked by German fighters in the vicinity of the rally point. S/Sgt Robinson and eight of his crewmates went missing in action when their aircraft, B-24H 42-52577, was shot down by German Me 410 fighters and exploded over the Baltic Sea within sight of Bornholm Island. Their bodies were never found.

The aircraft was seen going down due north of the target at about 54°02'N, 14°42'E, one to two miles from the coast. Lt Willis assumed a northwesterly course towards Sweden. Witnesses saw fuel leaking from the bomb bay, which appeared to stop when an engine was feathered. The aircraft exploded, and witnesses saw it crash in the Baltic Sea at 1240 hours at 54°47'N, 14°00'E, about 20 miles northeast of Rugen Island, Germany. The navigator, Lt Edgar Allan Grabhorn, was blown clear in the explosion and survived. He was rescued later that day at 1815 hours by the German fishing vessel Oskar Friedrich at 54°39'N, 14°36'E, where he was found floating in a life raft. He became a prisoner of war.

S/Sgt Robinson is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England. He also has a cenotaph at Mountain View Cemetery in Casa Grande, Pinal County, Arizona, where his parents and brother are buried.

B-24H 42-52577 crew:
• Willis, Joseph P – 2/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Wasson, Robert L – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Grabhorn, Edgar A – 2/Lt – Navigator – POW
• Slusarczyk, Stanley A – 2/Lt – Bombardier – MIA
• Estright, Alfred T – Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Robinson Jr, Richard S – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• Rodgers, Gilbert E – Sgt – Ball Turret – MIA
• Pierson, Robert E – Sgt – Nose Turret – MIA
• Jones, William E – Sgt – Top Turret – MIA
• Donnelly, Robert J – Sgt – Tail Turret – MIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com