Major General Edwin W. Robertson II

Asheville, NC – Major General Edwin Wales Robertson II (USAF Retired) age 94, of Asheville, NC, formerly of Columbia, SC (and summers at Flat Rock, NC) died Wednesday, December 18, 2019 at Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community, Asheville, NC. He was predeceased by his parents, Thomas J. Robertson and Mary Martin Robertson, his sister, Mary Robertson Torras and his first wife, Jane Ashworth Robertson.

He is survived by his wife, Virginia Dodge Robertson; three children, Jane Robertson Swanson (Phillip), Thomas J. Robertson II, Charles Robertson; three stepchildren, Lucretia McDougal Scudder (Edward), Robert D. McDougal IV (Caryn) and Virginia McDougal Dessaint; eleven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

General Robertson graduated from the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT. After a brief stint at Yale University he entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. After commissioning and graduating in the class of 1947 he entered U.S. Air Force flight training. He was a fighter pilot in the Korean War and later in the Vietnam conflict. Among later assignments he served as Commander of the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing at Bitburg Air Base Germany, Vice-Commander of 16th Air Force, Torrejon Air Base Spain and Commander of the Technical Training Center, Chanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, IL. He retired in 1981 as Chief of the Joint U.S. Military Group and Military Assistance Advisory Group Spain. While attending the National War College he earned a Masters Degree in Political Science from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. He also attended the British Royal Air Force Staff College in Bracknell, England. During his 34 years on active duty, significant awards include the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Medal with 22 Oak Leaf Clusters. He earned the Silver Star while serving as a forward air controller with the 24th Infantry Regiment in Korea for directing an air attack against enemy forces that helped save a battalion of U.S. infantrymen.
After retirement he served as a consultant to the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff for the US/Spanish treaty negotiations which ended successfully with a treaty in 1982.

General Robertson took pride in the fact that it was his grandfather’s (Edward W. Robertson) initiative and resourcefulness that led to the development of Ft. Jackson, SC as it is today.

A memorial service with full military honors will be held at 11:00 am on Friday, December 20th at Elmwood Cemetery in Columbia, SC with The Very Reverend Timothy Jones officiating.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Salvation Army or to Trinity Cathedral in Columbia, SC.

Groce Funeral Home at Lake Julian is assisting the family.