FRANK M. ROBINSON, LTJG, USN
Frank Robinson '36
Date of birth: September 8, 1914
Date of death: March 17, 1941
Age: 26
Contents
Lucky Bag
From the 1936 Lucky Bag:
Loss
From Find A Grave:
Frank Mason Robinson, eldest child of Cmdr. Hugh Burton Robinson (USN Ret.) and Marion Willett Mason, b. of record Sept. 8, 1914 at Springfield, Mass. He was named after his maternal grandfather, Frank B. Mason.
Like his two-year younger brother Hugh Marston Robinson, Frank graduated from the Severn School, class of 1932, a Naval Academy preparatory school in Severna Park, Maryland. Frank was subsequently a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1936, with the rank of Ensign. In 1940 he was designated Naval Aviator #6463 and rank of Lieut. J.G. stationed at a Naval Air facility near Warrington, Florida.
By April 1940 at age 25, Frank had married an unidentified 22 year old Eleanor from Berkeley, CA. Unfortunately, on Mar. 17, 1941 during a flight near the Hawaiian Islands, he as the pilot of one aircraft was killed in a mid-air collision with another aircraft. From military researcher Mike Weeks:
On 17 March 1941, two TBD-1's (carrier-based torpedo planes) operating from the aircraft carrier USS YORKTOWN (CV-5) collided near Hawaii. Six servicemen perished, with only two bodies being recovered, that of the pilots, LTJG F. M. Robinson, USN, and ENS K. L. Berry, USNR.
Frank Mason Robinson was an 11th generation descendant of Rev. John Robinson (1576-1625) and Bridget White, the former the pastor at Leiden, Holland of the core 1620 Mayflower pilgrims who founded the Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts. Frank was also a 12th generation descendant of 1620 Mayflower passenger Edward Fuller. Whether at his death Frank left children is presently unknown.
He was flying with Torpedo Squadron (VT) 5. Frank is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Class of 1936
Frank is one of 39 members of the Class of 1936 in Memorial Hall.
