Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
April 29, 2008
Pg. 1
As the U.S. death toll in Afghanistan approaches 500, 29 families in the region mourn lives lost. And troops continue to arrive to fight a war that is far from over.
By Edward Colimore, Inquirer Staff Writer
An urgent message awaited Charles and Janet Robinson when they came home from dinner that evening in June 2005.
The wife of their son's battalion commander had phoned: Call your daughter-in-law immediately, she instructed the Browns Mills couple.
Their hearts sank as they prepared for the news they had feared most. Army Capt. Charles D. Robinson, their bright and pensive son, had been killed in Afghanistan.
The 29-year-old Special Forces officer, who attended Baptist Regional School in Haddon Heights, was riding in a heavily armored humvee through Orgun-e in southeastern Afghanistan when an antitank mine exploded. One more month and he was to have returned Stateside.
"It's difficult to say what we will miss most about Charlie," said his father, a Baptist minister who, with his wife, has found comfort in a Christian grief counseling group for parents.
The U.S. military death toll will soon reach 500 in Afghanistan, where the war has received less media attention than the conflict in Iraq despite an increasingly violent insurgency, the resurgence of al-Qaeda, and a growing commitment of troops.
Robinson is one of 11 New Jerseyans who have lost their lives in Operation Enduring Freedom since it began in 2001. Also mourning are the families of 17 Pennsylvanians and one Delawarean.
By the Pentagon's latest count, the armed forces have suffered 489 deaths so far. And still troops arrive: The number in Afghanistan exceeds 34,000, with 7,500 additional men and women requested.
The U.S. troops are part of a 40-nation force expanded from 40,000 in fall 2006 to nearly 70,000 today. Last year was the deadliest since 2001, according to the United Nations, which reported 8,000 fatalities, including 1,500 civilians.
U.S. losses include 30-year-old Army Capt. David A. Boris of Pottsville, Pa., killed last year when a makeshift bomb hit his vehicle in Bermel; 39-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Troy S. Ezernack of Lancaster, Pa., who was killed in an enemy attack at Qalat, and 19-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Russell P. White of Dagsboro, Del., who was accidentally shot in 2004 at Bagram Air Base.
They were part of a force that supports a fledgling democracy and that has inflicted severe losses on Taliban fighters, who are now concentrating their attacks on the country's more poorly armed and trained provincial police.
The coalition's success in Afghanistan has come at a terrible cost for the loved ones of those who have died in that rugged, faraway land. Almost three years after Robinson's death, his family feels his absence keenly.
"Charlie was always very mature and thought about things a lot," said the Rev. Charles Robinson, 59, who now lives with his wife in Southampton, Burlington County. "He thought through the issues of life and what he wanted to do."
In one of his letters, the soldier wrote of the importance of the mission, not only politically and militarily, but also spiritually. "Charlie's faith was important to him," said his father, a former missionary whose work took the family to Paraguay and Chile. His son wanted the world to associate the U.S. military with men and women of principle, he said.
"He wrote that believers should be doing what he was doing because of the need there for the moral character of Christians," the elder Robinson said. "There was honor in what he was doing."
Until they lost their son, the Robinsons did not realize the impact he had on the people around him.
While at his grave at Arlington National Cemetery a couple of years ago, the Robinsons stopped to talk to relatives paying their respects to Staff Sgt. Leroy Alexander of Dale City, Va., who was killed in the same explosion.
When they turned back to their son's grave, they saw a young man kneeling in prayer.
"We waited until he was done and went over," said Charles Robinson, a Vietnam veteran who attended Philadelphia College of Bible, now Philadelphia Biblical University. "He told us he had served with Charlie in the 82d Airborne at Fort Bragg and was interning that summer with a member of Congress.
"He said Charlie was the one who had encouraged him to go into government service," he said.
The soldier told the Robinsons that whenever he was having a hard time, he asked himself, "What would Charlie do?" said Janet Robinson, 61.
From an early age, the younger Robinson had known a life of faith and duty. "He was a big help to us in our work," his father said.
At religious services during the family's time in South America, Charlie - who lived in Haddon Heights as a boy - played guitar and witnessed to young people about his faith in their own language.
He spent much of his life in Paraguay, then returned to New Jersey to attend Baptist Regional School, where he played soccer. His family later resumed its missionary work in Paraguay, and he graduated from Asunción Christian Academy.
"Learning came naturally for him," said his mother, who has another son, Jeffrey, and a daughter, Janet. "He really challenged us and kept us on our toes."
He majored in international studies and global economics at Cedarville University, a tight-knit Christian school in Ohio. There he met his future wife, Laura, a native of Iowa.
Robinson joined the ROTC at Cedarville, which led him into the Army after graduation in 1998, the year before he and Laura married. He was first assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82d Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C.
Robinson decided to undertake a more rigorous two-year training course and join the Special Forces.
"We knew him as a child, but we learned more about him as an adult after he died," his mother said. "We found out later that Charlie's church in Fayetteville grew because he and Laura brought in many new couples."
Laura did not accept an invitation, relayed by family, to speak to The Inquirer.
"He was doing what he loved doing in the military with what time God gave him," said his father, who refrains from discussing the political aspects of the war: "It makes no difference in the loss."
"We never talked to him about going into missionary work," he said. "We told him it was important to do what he thought was the Lord's will for his life."
"We loved him for who he was," added Janet Robinson. "Our only complaint is that we didn't have him long enough. . . . I'm pleased that he's not forgotten."
In an online memorial sponsored by the Washington Post, his friends and family have written tributes, none as touching as his wife's in 2006:
One year ago today . . .
Charlie, we honor you. You continue to be missed, and in our tears we're a little jealous of how it must be to be in the presence of God. Thank you for being the kind of man that we are honored to remember. I miss your daily presence.
April 29, 2008
Pg. 1
As the U.S. death toll in Afghanistan approaches 500, 29 families in the region mourn lives lost. And troops continue to arrive to fight a war that is far from over.
By Edward Colimore, Inquirer Staff Writer
An urgent message awaited Charles and Janet Robinson when they came home from dinner that evening in June 2005.
The wife of their son's battalion commander had phoned: Call your daughter-in-law immediately, she instructed the Browns Mills couple.
Their hearts sank as they prepared for the news they had feared most. Army Capt. Charles D. Robinson, their bright and pensive son, had been killed in Afghanistan.
The 29-year-old Special Forces officer, who attended Baptist Regional School in Haddon Heights, was riding in a heavily armored humvee through Orgun-e in southeastern Afghanistan when an antitank mine exploded. One more month and he was to have returned Stateside.
"It's difficult to say what we will miss most about Charlie," said his father, a Baptist minister who, with his wife, has found comfort in a Christian grief counseling group for parents.
The U.S. military death toll will soon reach 500 in Afghanistan, where the war has received less media attention than the conflict in Iraq despite an increasingly violent insurgency, the resurgence of al-Qaeda, and a growing commitment of troops.
Robinson is one of 11 New Jerseyans who have lost their lives in Operation Enduring Freedom since it began in 2001. Also mourning are the families of 17 Pennsylvanians and one Delawarean.
By the Pentagon's latest count, the armed forces have suffered 489 deaths so far. And still troops arrive: The number in Afghanistan exceeds 34,000, with 7,500 additional men and women requested.
The U.S. troops are part of a 40-nation force expanded from 40,000 in fall 2006 to nearly 70,000 today. Last year was the deadliest since 2001, according to the United Nations, which reported 8,000 fatalities, including 1,500 civilians.
U.S. losses include 30-year-old Army Capt. David A. Boris of Pottsville, Pa., killed last year when a makeshift bomb hit his vehicle in Bermel; 39-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Troy S. Ezernack of Lancaster, Pa., who was killed in an enemy attack at Qalat, and 19-year-old Marine Lance Cpl. Russell P. White of Dagsboro, Del., who was accidentally shot in 2004 at Bagram Air Base.
They were part of a force that supports a fledgling democracy and that has inflicted severe losses on Taliban fighters, who are now concentrating their attacks on the country's more poorly armed and trained provincial police.
The coalition's success in Afghanistan has come at a terrible cost for the loved ones of those who have died in that rugged, faraway land. Almost three years after Robinson's death, his family feels his absence keenly.
"Charlie was always very mature and thought about things a lot," said the Rev. Charles Robinson, 59, who now lives with his wife in Southampton, Burlington County. "He thought through the issues of life and what he wanted to do."
In one of his letters, the soldier wrote of the importance of the mission, not only politically and militarily, but also spiritually. "Charlie's faith was important to him," said his father, a former missionary whose work took the family to Paraguay and Chile. His son wanted the world to associate the U.S. military with men and women of principle, he said.
"He wrote that believers should be doing what he was doing because of the need there for the moral character of Christians," the elder Robinson said. "There was honor in what he was doing."
Until they lost their son, the Robinsons did not realize the impact he had on the people around him.
While at his grave at Arlington National Cemetery a couple of years ago, the Robinsons stopped to talk to relatives paying their respects to Staff Sgt. Leroy Alexander of Dale City, Va., who was killed in the same explosion.
When they turned back to their son's grave, they saw a young man kneeling in prayer.
"We waited until he was done and went over," said Charles Robinson, a Vietnam veteran who attended Philadelphia College of Bible, now Philadelphia Biblical University. "He told us he had served with Charlie in the 82d Airborne at Fort Bragg and was interning that summer with a member of Congress.
"He said Charlie was the one who had encouraged him to go into government service," he said.
The soldier told the Robinsons that whenever he was having a hard time, he asked himself, "What would Charlie do?" said Janet Robinson, 61.
From an early age, the younger Robinson had known a life of faith and duty. "He was a big help to us in our work," his father said.
At religious services during the family's time in South America, Charlie - who lived in Haddon Heights as a boy - played guitar and witnessed to young people about his faith in their own language.
He spent much of his life in Paraguay, then returned to New Jersey to attend Baptist Regional School, where he played soccer. His family later resumed its missionary work in Paraguay, and he graduated from Asunción Christian Academy.
"Learning came naturally for him," said his mother, who has another son, Jeffrey, and a daughter, Janet. "He really challenged us and kept us on our toes."
He majored in international studies and global economics at Cedarville University, a tight-knit Christian school in Ohio. There he met his future wife, Laura, a native of Iowa.
Robinson joined the ROTC at Cedarville, which led him into the Army after graduation in 1998, the year before he and Laura married. He was first assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82d Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C.
Robinson decided to undertake a more rigorous two-year training course and join the Special Forces.
"We knew him as a child, but we learned more about him as an adult after he died," his mother said. "We found out later that Charlie's church in Fayetteville grew because he and Laura brought in many new couples."
Laura did not accept an invitation, relayed by family, to speak to The Inquirer.
"He was doing what he loved doing in the military with what time God gave him," said his father, who refrains from discussing the political aspects of the war: "It makes no difference in the loss."
"We never talked to him about going into missionary work," he said. "We told him it was important to do what he thought was the Lord's will for his life."
"We loved him for who he was," added Janet Robinson. "Our only complaint is that we didn't have him long enough. . . . I'm pleased that he's not forgotten."
In an online memorial sponsored by the Washington Post, his friends and family have written tributes, none as touching as his wife's in 2006:
One year ago today . . .
Charlie, we honor you. You continue to be missed, and in our tears we're a little jealous of how it must be to be in the presence of God. Thank you for being the kind of man that we are honored to remember. I miss your daily presence.