STEWARTVILLE — Tom and Fannie Lou Robinson showed pictures and told stories about their only son Monday evening.Talking seemed to help ease the pain of the loss of the couple’s son, Marine Lt. Col. Michael A. Robinson, 42, who died Friday in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Outside their home, a white ribbon adorned a newspaper box, while nearby an American flag fluttered in the late evening breeze.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Department of Defense didn’t release a cause of death, but Robinson’s parents have been told he apparently died in his sleep.
According to information the Robinsons received, the military said their son died from non-hostile action. A soldier was said to have approached him and he appeared to be sleeping. However, it was later discovered he was not breathing. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and an investigation into the death is on-going.
The Robinsons got notification of their son’s death late Friday when military officials came to their home.
Fannie Lou Robinson said a general called them Monday morning to talk about their son’s death. “He said when a soldier dies in his sleep, an autopsy is automatically done,” she said.
She said her son had a heart condition but it wasn’t something that kept him out of the military.
“I feel like it was his heart,” she said, surrounded by her two nieces.
Robinson, who was a graduate of Sylacauga High School, always wanted to be a Marine, his family and high school friends said. In fact, he attended Auburn University and graduated on a Marine ROTC scholarship.
He was commissioned a lieutenant at Camp Lejeune, N.C., after graduating. His career as a Marine took him across the country and around the world for 11 years. He was eventually a Marine reservist.
He was a reservist when he was called back to duty, his parents said. He had his choice of going back to Iraq, where he served six months training Iraqi soldiers, or to Afghanistan. He chose Afghanistan, where he was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and Camp Eggers.
In addition to his parents, Robinson is survived by his wife, Kristi. The couple had been married 16 years. They lived in Anderson, S.C.
Robinson not only served in Iraq and Afghanistan, he was also based in Ft. Worth, Texas, Ft. Sill, Okla., and spent three years in Okinawa, Japan.
After getting out of the service full time, Robinson was a Marine reservist in Bessemer. He did summer tours in Australia, Africa and the Panama Canal.
When he got out of service, he also worked locally at Georgia Marble and Blue Bell Creameries. He later went to work for Kroger, and while working there, he volunteered for Iraq as a Marine reserve.
After spending six months training Iraqi soldiers, he returned home to a job with Cetex in Hartwell, Ga.
Two years later, he was called back for active duty, but this time was given a choice of Iraq or Afghanistan.
Ray Robinson, who is known to many in this area as “the Coke man,” worked for 21 years with the Coke Cola Company delivering Coke products to stores. He later worked at Marvin’s in Sylacauga.
Fannie Lou Robinson worked for Coosa Valley Medical Center until her retirement.
Of her son and his father, she said, “They both put everything into their job.”
She said her son was a person who believed in God, trusted in God, loved his family and his country.
When Robinson went to Iraq, he asked his mother to make a quilt from T-shirts he had collected through the years. She cut the T-shirts’ emblems and appliquéd them. Seniors at the senior citizens center in Stewartville helped her strip them together and Ruby Robinson quilted it. The quilt was given to him at the center when he got back from Iraq. It now hangs in his home in South Carolina.
As Robinson left for Afghanistan, his mother started to sew two pillows for his and his wife’s anniversary. She only got one of the pillows done before her son died. It will be placed in his casket.
Robinson will have a full military service at New Site Baptist Church in Coosa County, where his family attends.
The Robinsons hope to get their son’s body home in time for a viewing Friday at Radney-Smith Funeral Home and a military service Saturday. Prior to that, there will be a service in Georgia.
The Robinsons are “holding up” as friends, family and media come to their home.
The couple have been married since 1961. She is from New Site, and her husband is from Dadeville. They lived 31 years in Sylacauga so their son could go to Sylacauga High. They moved to Stewartville four years ago to be near family.
Before their son left for Afghanistan, the couple hosted a party for him. He spent two days with them, April 18 and 19, visiting family and friends.
His mother said he loved country cooking and wanted his favorites before he left.
“We had ham, corn, green beans, cabbage, cornbread, deviled eggs, pear salad, blackberry pie, boiled chocolate cookies and more,” she said.
Robinson got to Afghanistan Memorial Day, May 28. Four days later, June 1, at 19:52 military time he was pronounced dead, his father said.
Friends remember
Tracy Brooks Allen graduated from Sylacauga High School with Robinson in 1983. She said all he wanted to do was be in the service. “He wanted to fight and protect this country, and he did. He died doing what he wanted to do, be a Marine,” she said.
Fay Simpkins was one of Robinson’s teachers, and he and her son, David, were friends.
“He was such a nice, sweet boy. He always did what you asked him to do,” she said.
David Simpkins said he and Robinson were good buddies going through school together. He said his classmates nicknamed Robinson “Chuckwagon” in about the seventh grade. “I can’t recall how he got the name. He was a real cut-up and I’m sure that had something to do with it,” Simpkins said.
He also remembered that Robinson was a good musician. “He played in the band with me and my father directed the band. He was a good baritone and tuba player. He probably could have been a good musician if not for his love of the Marines,” Simpkins said.
Coach Harold Brooks, director of the Boys Club of Sylacauga, said Robinson attended the club as a young boy and until he graduated from high school.
“Mike was a good student and very dedicated to the Marines. He was 110 percent Marine. He worked hard to be a model Marine. He would do whatever I told him to do. He supervised the younger boys when I asked him to. I never had any reservations about putting him in charge,” Brooks said.
He said Robinson had his goals set and he went for them. “I respected him for that. He was a top of the line kid. He worked hard to get to where he was. He was a model Marine, that was evident by his rank.”
Tommy Porch, principal at Sylacauga High, taught Robinson.
“He was a good kid. Everyone liked him. All he ever wanted to do was be in the military,” he said.
Robinson was stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. His body has been returned to the states for an autopsy.
Funeral arrangements for Robinson will be announced later.
