Patriotic family: Ed Robinson serves as peace keeper
Staff reporter
When the commercial airliners crashed into the twin towers in New York City that fateful Sept. 11, Ed Robinson Jr. of Florence decided he would re-enlist in the service.
Robinson had served for three years in the U.S. Army as an infantry squad leader. He was discharged in 1989.
After 9/11, he joined the Kansas Army National Guard.
Robinson, a 1979 graduate of Marion High School, is home on a 15-day leave which will end Sunday, when he will return to duty in Kosovo.
Robinson, a staff sergeant, and a team of soldiers patrol an area in Kosovo as peace keepers in an attempt to reduce violence between two ethnic groups — the Serbs and the Albanians.
"Our mission is to provide a safe and secure environment for the people of Kosovo," Robinson said.
The military serves as a neutral party.
"I arrived in Kosovo on Feb. 8 and was patrolling Feb. 9," Robinson said. He arrived before his gear so he "borrowed beans, bullets, and Band-aids."
Robinson is part of a dismounted or walking infantry patrol. The group patrols mountainous terrain, farmland, and cities.
"Seeing a military presence deters organized violence against one ethnic or religious group," Robinson said.
A typical day's work averages 14 hours per day.
Robinson said he was educated about the area and began taking courses two years ago.
"The goal is to get the children (Serbs and Albanians) to play together to foster peace," Robinson said.
He further explained that 50 percent of the population in Kosovo is 26 years old and younger and if children could learn to get along, there was hope for a peaceful future.
And now his son soon will be in Iraq, fighting for a similar cause.
Jeconiah Spangler, a 2004 graduate of Peabody-Burns High School, enlisted in March 2004. He's an infantryman with the Kansas Army National Guard.
"He knew he was going," Robinson said. "He wanted to go. He joined out of a sense of patriotism."
Linda Robinson, Ed's wife and Jeconiah's mother, prays for the safe return of her men.
"My main support has been my sister," Linda said. Her sister, Debbie Howell, lives in the Andover-Benton area. Linda also receives support from friend Susie Harshman of Cedar Point, and her church family of Burns United Methodist Church.
Linda cares for elderly people and cleans their homes. She also appreciates their support and kindness.
The power of prayer is present in the Robinson family's lives. They believe prayer will continue to keep the men safe and provide strength to Linda.
Before being deployed to Kosovo, Robinson was an engineering technician at the Marion office of Kansas Department of Transportation.
"My employer has been very supportive," Robinson said.
He said the Marion office was hit hard when both he and fellow guardsman and employee Bill Harris, also of Florence and an engineering technician, were deployed.
"Our office donated two men to the cause," Robinson said.
Eric Clay of Florence also is serving in Kosovo in the same company as Harris.
Linda said this past spring, KDOT employees came to her home and helped remove limbs and branches left from the January ice storm.
"It's going to be a long winter," Linda said.
Robinson said he may return for good in January 2006, but nothing is certain. His enlistment ends in 2007 and has not made a decision whether to re-enlist.
Robinson said the American people need to be fully informed before making judgments of the military and its presence in different countries.
"Don't listen to just one source," Robinson said. "We're doing a lot of good things."
The freedoms Americans sometime take for granted are the reasons Robinson and other soldiers like him are in the military.
"It is everyone's right to be free from oppression," Robinson said. And Robinson wants to assist Kosovo in gaining that freedom.
