Robert L. Bobcat Williamson, E Company, 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division (ASN 39336775) was born on February 19 1925. Bob Williamson has several claims to notoriety, which consists of two very good reasons. First, Williamson, has become my very close friend ever since we met in 2001, at the Branson, MO, reunion. Our friendship permitted us to fondly rename each other. He is now my Bobcat and I am his Tomcat, as the two very loyal airborne feline buddies. His other claim to fame was that he was the buddy of Stuart Stryker, the winner of one of our four Medal of Honor recipients. They both volunteered for the airborne at their induction in Oregon.
Bobcat entered military service at the Portland Oregon Draft Board. From Portland, he and Stryker was bused to Fort Lewis where they first saw a paratrooper in dressed uniform. His entire group of draftees liked that look and volunteered for the paratroops and were then transported to Fort Benning, Georgia in a train that took a week. Upon arrival, they met a paratroop Sergeant, who admonished them for joining such a dangerous unit while still so young. He offered them “quit slips” should they change their minds, but there was no ‘quitter’ among them. After they all went through very rigorous physical trainings at the Frying Pan (Lawson Field) area at Fort Benning, some of the guys signed the quit slip except Patterson, Stryker and Bob, who refused to sign because they wanted the extra $50 pay per month.
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