Portrait of Alden Robinson
Born February 15, 1925 in Belmont
Rank: PFC. Service: US Army. Division/Ship: 10th Mountain Division. Theater: Europe. Dates of Service: 1943 - 1945. Special Citations: Bronze Star

Born in Belmont, MA, the big band trombone playing 18-year-old Al Robinson joined the Army in 1943 and was assigned to the newly minted 10th Mountain Division to train specifically for mountain and snow operations. After his mountain training in Pando, Colorado, his unit shipped to Texas where they trainined for desert warfare before being sent to northern Italy. He served as a radio operator and messenger - physically carrying messages riding a commandeered German motorcycle with a sidecar as his unit moved along Route 64 into Germany. He continued a career in communications working first for a radio supply company and finally working for Raytheon with antennae systems. He met his wife of 58 years, Betty Lou, a stewardess, in Chicago. They married in 1949 and became full-time residents of Annisquam in the 1970s, converting a summer shack into their family home. He has three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren (at the time). The hat he is holding was a gift from an Italian Alpini soldier who gave it to him in 1945.