James E. Robinson Jr., Medal of Honor Recipient at Leyte

Feb 05 , 2026

James E. Robinson Jr., Medal of Honor Recipient at Leyte

The roar of bullets clawed the morning sky. Men screamed. Blood soaked the cursed soil. Outnumbered, surrounded, a single man charged headlong into hell—James E. Robinson Jr. He wasn’t just fighting for survival. He was fighting to carry every brother back alive.

The Making of a Warrior

James E. Robinson Jr. was born into hardship during the Great Depression. Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, his boyhood was marked by the discipline of faith and the grit of working-class America. Baptized young, his belief in God and a moral code grounded him well before combat hardened his resolve.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." — John 15:13. These words haunted and fueled him through the hellfires of war. To Robinson, valor wasn’t about glory. It was about sacrifice, about honor, about the promise he made to every soul with him on that battlefield.

The Battle That Defined Him

October 29, 1944, Leyte Island, the Philippines. The 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment was pinned down by Japanese forces in a brutal clash. The unit needed a way out. It was Robinson, a Staff Sergeant in Company A, who stepped forward under a hailstorm of bullets.

Single-handedly, he launched an assault against enemy positions. Crawling, throwing grenades, leading men firing back through choking smoke and chaos. He destroyed three heavily defended machine gun nests, each one threatening to break them apart.

Twice injured, Robinson refused evacuation. Instead, dragging the wounded on his back, he slogged through mud and blood to safety lines time and again. His relentless drive pushed the entire battalion forward, turning near-certain defeat into an unlikely victory.

The citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty... Staff Sergeant Robinson’s leadership and courage were instrumental in the liberation of Leyte Island.

This was no luck, no fleeting heroism. Robinson’s courage was forged in prayer and sweat.

Recognition That Echoes

For his actions, James E. Robinson Jr. received the Medal of Honor—the United States’ highest recognition for valor in combat. He later wrote:

“I didn’t do it for a medal. I did it for my brothers. I was just doing my job.”

His commanders praised his calm under fire, calling him a “natural leader” who thrived when the world burned around him. Fellow soldiers remembered a man who took the line between life and death and refused to cross it until every man was safe.

Legacy Written in Blood

Robinson’s story is a knife’s edge truth about war. It’s brutal, messy, and carved with loss. But it’s also a testament to the unshakable spirit of those who fight not just for land, but for each other.

Today, his valor teaches us the cost of freedom and the depth of sacrifice. It reveals the sacred trust borne by every combat brother—no man left behind, no soul forgotten.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged...” — Joshua 1:9. Robinson lived this not as a mere saying, but as a battle hymn that led him through darkness.

In a world quick to forget the scars and stories of combat, remember James E. Robinson Jr. His footsteps mark a path through fire—raw, unyielding, eternal. A man who showed us what it means to fight with heart, faith, and a will that breaks the enemy and uplifts the fallen.

That is legacy. That is redemption. That is true valor.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: World War II 2. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Remembering James E. Robinson Jr. (Feature, 1994) 3. U.S. War Department archives, Award Citation for James E. Robinson Jr. (1945)