Army Veteran Honored By Local Students For Heroism

HAMPTON BAYS, NY — Once again, the Hampton Bays School District has honored a local veteran, thanking him for his heroism.

The district, in February, paid tribute to Army veteran Rick Robinson by flying an American flag in his honor.

“The district is proud to honor Mr. Robinson for his bravery and service to the United States,” said Superintendent of Schools Lars Clemensen.

Members of the Hampton Bays High School Select Choir opened a ceremony on Feb. 15 at Hampton Bays Elementary School with the national anthem, later following with a performance of Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing," the district said.

High school senior Kevin McNamara read Robinson’s bio; county and town officials also presented Robinson with proclamations. The ceremony culminated with the raising of the flag on the school’s flagpole.

Robinson, the district said, was born in Brooklyn in 1966; he later moved to Hampton Bays in 1998 and worked in the telecommunications industry in Manhattan.

Robinson started to feel a need to serve his country in 2007: His twin brother joined the Navy at 39 — and, motivated by his brother, Robinson decided to join the Army at 40 years old.

It was a difficult process, since the Army typically recruits individuals at a younger age, the district said.

Despite the odds, Robinson would not take “no” for an answer and pursued every possible avenue to enlist, the district explained. In 2007, he joined the Army National Guard and completed his combined basic training and advanced individual training at Fort Benning, GA, aka the “Home of the Infantry.”

He was nicknamed “the old man” for being much older than the other recruits, as well as his drill sergeants.

"Older did not mean inferior for Robinson, however; he was rated in the upper half of the training platoon of 54 soldiers," the district said. "His personal drive and sense of commitment to the Army drove his performance in training, and his success contributed to the unit receiving the Honor Platoon Award for being the best in the company."

After completing basic and advanced training, Robinson graduated with the MOS 11B, part of the Army Infantry. His first assignment was to B Company of the Fighting 69th Infantry Regiment, which originally gained its fame for its fighting spirit during the American Civil War.

In April 2008, Robinson volunteered to join with C Troop, 101st Cavalry Regiment, and was deployed to Afghanistan as part of Task Force Phoenix Seven. He was stationed at Forward Operating Base Hughey in Nangarhar Province, Jalalabad. During this deployment, he served as a gunner in the turret of a Humvee, utilizing 50-caliber and M240 weapons systems in support of ground troops and convoys. He spent nine months in Afghanistan, the district said.

Once home in the United States, Robinson was again assigned to B Company, 69th Infantry Regiment, this time on Long Island. In 2010, his unit was reassigned to Japan to train with the Japanese Defense Forces in combined operations. During the remainder of his service, back in the U.S., his unit was twice activated for state emergencies that included protecting airports and train stations after the Boston Marathon bombing with the objective of deterring other acts of terrorism, the district said.

Robinson was honorably discharged in Jan., 2017 after 10 years of service. He currently supports the local community by working at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital, and he is an active member of the American Legion – Hampton Bays Post 924 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5350.

Photo courtesy of the Hampton Bays School District.