Ananta K. Wibawa: THE FIRST AMERICAN HEROINE TO FALL IN THE LINE OF DUTY IN VIETNAM

By Ananta K. Wibawa
This article was prepared and written in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, from 16 to 23 June 2023

Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.

The quote above is the opening line of the poem “Courage” by Amelia Earhart. A US citizen who was not just a pioneering aviator but also an accomplished writer and poet. The poem was written in 1927, four years before Earhart became the first woman in the world to pilot a non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1932, and is regarded as the most accurate portrayal of the pioneer's thoughts and intentions.

The U.S. stamp was published in 1963 in honor of Amelia Earhart. Archive U.S. Post Office Department. Copyright: Public Domain

This quote speaks to the courage and bravery required to pursue peace, justice, and progress while facing challenges and adversity.

For the United States of America, Barbara A. Robbins, as the first U.S. female casualty in the Vietnam War, has demonstrated exceptional bravery in her service and sacrifice. Her dedication to her country and her commitment to making a positive difference exemplifies the courage that Amelia Earhart's quote encapsulates.

Early life

Her complete name is Barbara Annette Robins. She was born on June 26, 1943, in Vermillion, Clay County, South Dakota State, USA, as the daughter of Buford Miles Robbins and Opal Ruth Robbins.

Afterward, her father, a US Navy veteran who served in World War II in the South Pacific and was a native of Castana, Iowa, found work as a meat cutter in Sioux City, Iowa. Their family moved there and occupied a house on Cecilia Street.

In an interview with the Sioux City Journal in 2015, a Sioux City resident, Delores Schneider, described Barbara as a bright and independent little girl. Delores herself was Barbara's cousin. She also told about a terrible accident Barbara had when she was five. A car hit her and dragged her several feet. Barbara had to undergo several skin-grafting operations, and metal braces had to be attached to her legs.

Barbara Robins was an elementary school student at Joy Elementary School until her family moved again to Denver, Colorado, in 1952. Much of her childhood and teenage years were spent in her new city of residence.

Barbara's lone sibling, Warren Robbins, revealed to the Sioux City Journal in a related interview that their mother, who was originally from South Dakota, was delighted with the move. She didn't enjoy living in Iowa and believed that Denver would be a better place for their family. Warren was born in Sioux City, three years after Barbara's.

There were descriptions of Barbara as an active and sociable figure in Ian Shapira's article published in the Washington Post on May 6, 2012. She enjoyed swimming and bowling; she even officially joined the bowling club at her high school. In addition, she also volunteered at a Lutheran church in Denver and was never absent from church rituals on Sundays.

Picture of a postcard depicting the downtown of Denver, Colorado, in the 1950s from the perspective of Broadway and Cheyenne Place. Archive: Private collection. Copyright: Public Domain

Joining the CIA and making a difference

From 1955 to the 1960s, particularly in the United States, a significant cultural shift took place, driven by a generation of young people who sought to make a difference and challenge the existing social and political norms. This era, often referred to as the "counterculture" or the "hippie movement," was characterized by a spirit of activism, idealism, and a desire to create positive change. Indeed, the spirit of "making a difference" in the 1960s was deeply rooted in the belief that individuals had the power to effect change.

The front cover of two novels: On the Road by Jack Kerouac, published in 1957, and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe, published in 1968. Copyright: Public Domain.

There are many references to it, including in Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road, published in 1957, and Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, published in 1968. The early symptoms of counterculture in the US are well explained in Kerouac's work through the journey of the character Sal Paradise and his friend, Dean Moriarty, who explore the US in search of individual freedom, self-discovery, and escape from the social and political norms that existed in their home country. This novel was a very significant work for the Beat Generation because it laid down the basic concepts for the counterculture movement in the 1960s. Meanwhile, the work of Tom Wolfe chronologically depicted the development of comparative culture in the 1960s through the author Ken Kesey's experience traveling the country with a group of fans and followers known as the Merry Pranksters.

The emergence of John F. Kennedy (JFK) as U.S. President in 1961 seemed to be a confirmation that the youths flaming in the United States at the time, also had a significant impact on the determination of public policy in the country known as the “country of dreams” and the “land of hope.” JFK had what the American youth have longed for. He became the youngest President of the United States when elected, and he had a young spirit. He opposed racial discrimination, tyranny, and injustice.

Geopolitically, at that time, communism had become an increasingly real threat to the Western world since the end of World War II. In 1958, the Cold War put two geopolitical giants, the U.S., and the Soviet Union, at the top of a competitive position, both militarily and in terms of global influence and dominance. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Warsaw Pact divided Europe into two blocs: Western and Eastern, which competed with each other. Many younger Americans in the early 1960s saw communism as a totalitarian ideology that suppressed individual freedoms and threatened democratic values.

June 26, 1963. President John F. Kennedy observed East Berlin, East Germany (Democratic Republic), from the stage erected at Charlie's Ceckpoint along the Berlin Wall in West Berlin, West Germany (Federal Republic). Archive: John F. Kennedy Library. Copyright: Public domain.

JFK’s attitude and actions as he stood at the front of the western side of the Berlin Wall, Germany, and spoke to express sympathy with the Berlin community while condemning the Soviet Union's policy to divide Berlin into Eastern and Western territories were seen in line with the view of the younger generation of the U.S. at the time.

Graphic ilustration of the Peace Corps formation by President Kennedy

JFK also formed the Alliance for Progress with many developing countries to confront communism in terms of socio-economic development. He also called on U.S. youth to play more roles in the alliance and facilitated their role through the Peace Corps to carry out socio-economic practices in many developing countries. In accordance with a famous quote from his inauguration speech as President of the United States, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." This quote became a popular slogan for the young American generation at the time.

Seal of Colorado State University

The domestic and foreign circumstances also influenced the personality, character, and views of Barbara, who graduated from the top 10 of high school at Thomas Jefferson High in 1961. She continued her studies to take a two-year diploma program in secretarial studies at Colorado State University. She may have interacted with the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) recruitment effort at this college.

It is no secret that the U.S. intelligence service has been working with academics since World War II through its forerunner organization, the office of the Coordinator of Information (COI), which later changed its name to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). This is in accordance with CIA documents that were declassified on January 31, 2014, which contained the speech of CIA Deputy Director Robert M. Gates at the National Convention of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers in Sheraton Hotel, Tysons Corner, Washington, DC on October 10, 1987, under the title "CIA and the University."

According to other parts of the document, when the CIA was established under the National Security Act of 1947, cooperation between U.S. intelligence and academics continued to intensify in various forms of forums, consultations, supervision, up to the granting of scholarships to students from various colleges in the United States for the benefit of recruitment. Of course, it also reviewed the ups and downs of the relationship and cooperation over the years, along with evaluations and suggestions for improvement.

The original building of the CIA headquarters in Langley, VA. President Kennedy presided over the dedication of the CIA's new headquarters in November 28, 1961. Archives: CIA. Copyright: Public domain.

In an official CIA publication on the history of Barbara A. Robbins, it was stated that after completing a two-year diploma program in secretarial studies at Colorado State University, she joined the CIA in July 1963. She served in the CIA’s Directorate of Plans (the forerunner of today’s National Clandestine Service), where she served as a secretary-stenographer.

Before joining the CIA, Barbara had never left the United States, but less than a year into her tenure, she volunteered when an opportunity to work in Saigon, South Vietnam, presented itself. Like many CIA officers at the time, Barbara wanted to make a difference in the fight against communism and she saw the war in Vietnam as an opportunity to do her part.

Graphic illustration of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) between 1961-1965, processing by Ananta K. Wibawa.

In Shapira’s article in the Washington Post, Warren conveyed that her family at the time knew if Barbara was in charge of the CIA, but they thought her placement in Vietnam was an assignment from the U.S. State Department.

Far earlier, in another article in the same daily, written by Ted Gup on September 7, 1997, there was a depiction of a dialogue between Barbara and her father, who questioned her decision to choose Vietnam. Barbara responded by outlining a “domino theory” describing the movement of communism from one country to another. Until she ended with a rhetorical affirmation, “When they (the Communists) get to West Colfax (an area in the neighborhood of Denver), Mister, you'll wish you'd done something." Her father understood that his daughter was idealistic, patriotic, adventurous, and very responsible.

In mid-1964, Barbara arrived in Saigon, South Vietnam, with a cover as a servicewoman of the U.S. State Department. She began serving at the CIA Station in Saigon, headquartered at the U.S. Embassy, which at the time had been the largest CIA station in the world and was the busiest, providing intelligence all the time to US policymakers about war. Barbara’s tasks vary widely, from managing employees’ time cards and performing other important secretariat tasks to writing major intelligence reports. Some reports came to her, organized by a number of villagers who formed a small army with the task of spying on Viet Cong activities.

March 1, 1965. Home Guard members in Saigon, South Vietnam, patroll their neighborhoods at night to confront the infiltration of the Viet Cong. Photo by Wilbur E. Garrett/National Geographic/Getty Images Copyright © by National Geographic.

As a talented intelligence officer, her ability to get along with others enabled her to quickly enter a wide range of circles, including the elite in Saigon. Shapira’s article in the Washington Post also highlights Barbara’s remarkable social life. She informed her family through a letter that she would join "Le Circle Sportif Saigonnais", a social club in Saigon, which not only provided a huge swimming pool and a number of tennis courts but also elite membership for several high-ranking diplomats and CIA officials.

Description of tennis court facilities and swimming pools owned by the social club Le Circle Sportif Saigonnais (Saigon Sports Environment) of 1965 in Saigon, South Vietnam. Archive: User account: manhhai at flickr.com. Copyright © partially by manhhai

Among the ordinary servicemen, either civilian or military, she also had many friends, two of whom were a US Army NCO, Bill McDonald, and a US Air Force NCO, Doug Johnson. Both had a special relationship with her, especially Johnson. As Shapira described in the Washington Post article about Barbara's letter to her parents dated February 23, 1965, she had a special impression of Johnson and liked him more than her other friends. However, in her letter dated March 16, 1965, Barbara conveyed that Johnson had asked to marry her, but she hadn’t thought so far and eventually hung up the request.

Photo reproduction of Bill McDonald and Barbara A. Robbins taking a vacation in the beach town of Nha Trang, South Vietnam, in late 1964. Warren Robbin's Archive. Copyright © by Joanna B. Pinneo for The Washington Post. Colored by Ananta K. Wibawa.

Fall in the line of duty

Eight months after Barbara arrived in Saigon, the Viet Cong were reported to have begun targeting attacks on the U.S. Embassy. Media reports in the U.S. frequently highlighted the increasingly violent situation in Saigon, and Barbara sent letters home to her parents, telling them not to worry and reassuring them that she was not in any danger.

From the descriptions of a number of U.S. mass media articles and official publications of the CIA, a series of complementary images and details were obtained of the tragic incident that struck the US embassy in Saigon on March 30, 1965.

On that date, at 10.55 a.m. local time, a black Citroen sedan appeared to be parked on the edge of the road too close to the five-story U.S. embassy building. A police officer ordered the sedan driver to move his vehicle. But immediately there was a commotion that prompted the police to shoot at the vehicle. Within seconds, a scooter motorcycle immediately approached the sedan driver's position, and the scooter rider fired a shot at the police.

In one of the second-story rooms of the embassy building, CIA secretaries heard gunfire outside the building. They, Rosemary Dunn, Evelyn Flagg, Dorothy Peters, and Barbara Robbins, immediately rushed into the office room of the deputy head of the CIA station to look out the window and find out what was going on.

As Dorothy rushed into the station’s deputy chief’s room, she curiously asked about the possibility of the sound of fireworks or stunts. Closed to the iron-grates window, she looked at Barbara for a moment. At a glance, Rosemary could see the smoke curling up from the Citroen sedan, which, without their knowledge, had actually been installed with explosives weighing as much as 300 pounds. Reflexively, she put her arms over her eyes, but the three others didn’t. They were all lined up like ducks.

Immediately, such a terrible explosion propelled them four backward. The force of the explosion also threw window glasses, an air conditioner box, and window iron grates, and eventually one of the grates punctured Barbara's body and killed her instantly. She was 21 years old at the time.

The scene of the Viet Cong guerrilla bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, the Republic of Vietnam, on March 30, 1965. Archive: The National Archives and Records Administration. Copyright: Public domain. Colored by Ananta K. Wibawa.

A Philippine-born US Navy NCO, Petty Officer 2nd Class Manolito Wisco Castillo, who served in the U.S. Embassy’s daily supplies store unit, was also killed along with 19 Vietnamese and more than 100 Americans, Vietnamese, and other citizens wounded.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Manolito Wisco Castillo. Archive: The Wall of Faces – Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Copyright: Public domain. Colored by Ananta K. Wibawa.

Within the time difference zone, 13 hours earlier in Saigon, on March 30, 1965, at 2 a.m. local time in Denver, Barbara’s father received an official notification by telephone from the U.S. State Department about Barbara’s fall in the line of duty in Vietnam. Furthermore, the community in the city of Denver felt shaken. Until that day, people could not clearly imagine the depiction of the conflict in Vietnam.

The day after the bombing, the Denver Post's lead editorial, titled "Embassy Blast Hits Us All," observed: "The many Denverites who knew Miss Robbins can now have no doubts about the seriousness and the bloodiness of the war in Viet Nam."

Two days later, Barbara’s name and photo had spread widely in various U.S. newspapers, such as the Washington Daily News, Stars and Stripes, and New York Daily News. All depicting her as a U.S. State Department official.

The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Vietnam, Trần Văn Đỗ, pins medals to the national flags on both coffins of Petty Officer 2nd Class Manolito Wisco Castillo (left image) and Barbara A. Robbins (right image). Archive: the Washington Post. Copyright © by Joanna B. Pinneo for The Washington Post. Colored by Ananta K. Wibawa.

Before being flown back to the U.S., the bodies of Petty Officer 2nd Class Manolito Wisco Castillo and Barbara Annette Robins were given a service at a chapel at the US base in Tân Sơn Nhứt, near Saigon. The event was part of a departure ceremony.

The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Vietnam, Trần Văn Đỗ, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam, awarded the Highest Medal of Honor and Gallantry posthumously to the two U.S. citizens. The medals are each pinned to the national flag on the coffin.

Barbara's body was immediately flown home to Denver, and a funeral ceremony was held at Chapel Hill Cemetery on April 3, 1965. President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of State Dean Rusk, respectively, sent a telegram of mourning, which was read in front of the public present at the funeral ceremony. A total of 325 people, including family, colleagues, friends, and neighbors, attended the funeral ceremony. Barbara Robbins has been declared the first American woman to fall in the line of duty in Vietnam.

April 3, 1965. Coffin of Barbara A. Robbins, 21, is carried to hearse after church services in Denver. Archive: the Denver Post via Getty Images. Copyright © by Denver Post. Colored by Ananta K. Wibawa.

The long process to official recognition as a CIA agent

In June 1965, Barbara’s parents and brother flew to Washington to attend a commemorative ceremony at the U.S. State Department. Secretary of State Dean Rusk awarded the Secretary’s Honor award posthumously to Barbara A. Robbins. They were then escorted to CIA headquarters for dinner with Deputy Director Richard Helms and Head of the Far East Division William Colby.

However, Barbara’s appointment as a CIA officer was not mentioned at all, although while with the CIA senior officers, Barbara’s father began to feel that his daughter probably had fallen as an agent of the CIA. He didn’t even express his feelings to the two CIA executives.

The Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, while shaking the hand of Barbara's brother, Warren Robbins (wearing glasses), delivers the award to Barbara’s mother, Mrs. Opal Ruth Robbins, who is accompanied by her father, Mr. Buford Miles Robbins. Also accompanied by the nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Vietnam, Maxwell Taylor (standing behind the Secretary of State, the far left in the picture). Copyright © by Joanna B. Pinneo for The Washington Post. Colored by Ananta K. Wibawa.

In 1974, the CIA built a "Wall of Honor" monument at their headquarters and carved 31 stars for the deceased officers, including one for Barbara A. Robbins. She was the first woman to get a star on the wall. But it was only in 1987 that the agency held its first annual commemoration ceremony for those recognized on its Wall of Honor internally.

In the early 1990s, the CIA began officially inviting non-agency family members to the ceremony, which until then had mostly been a special official event. In 1995, when the Barbara Robbins family attended their first Commemoration of the Wall of Honor, the CIA, for the first time, clearly read all the names affiliated with the carved stars during the ceremony, although those names were not all inscribed in The Book of Honor of the CIA.

In its official publication, the agency stated that the people remembered with the star included a combination of secret officers, analysts, supporting and technical personnel, as well as contractors.

As the Barbara family tried to ask about Barbara’s profile that was not listed in the Book of Honor, the agency tried to explain that writing a CIA officer’s profile would cover many things related to a number of relationships and tasks. While many of Barbara's relationships and assignments were still related to a number of things that could not be declassified by the agency for personal or national security reasons.

Finally, in May 2011, just before his annual Wall of Honor ceremony, Barbara’s brother, Warren, got a call from the agency. An official told him that his sister’s name was inscribed in The Book of Honor of the CIA. Their father died in 1998, and their mother in 2008. They were both buried next to Barbara's tomb at Chapel Hill Cemetery.

Warren Robbins sits on his bed in his condominium in Aurora, Colorado with letters from his sister Barbara A. Robbins that she wrote to her family while she was stationed in Saigon in 1964 and 1965 serving as a secretary at the American Embassy. Copyright © by Joanna B. Pinneo for The Washington Post.

At the ceremony on May 23, 2011, Warren was given a front-row seat. Barbara Annette Robbins was officially recognized as the first American woman and the first female CIA agent to fall in the line of duty in Vietnam. Until this article was written, she was still recorded as the youngest CIA agent to fall in the line of duty.

On the occasion, then-CIA Director Leon Panetta had an opportunity to convey in his speech: "When Barbara’s father asked his 21-year-old daughter, ‘Why Vietnam?’ the answer was clear and simple," Panetta said. "She wanted to make a difference."

Kathy Voss and Warren Robbins pose with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in front of the CIA Memorial Wall at their headquarters in Langley, VA. In May of 2011. Copyright © by Joanna B. Pinneo for The Washington Post.

After Panetta delivered his speech, Warren shook his hand and congratulated him on his new nomination as U.S. Defense Secretary under President Barack Obama. They also posed together for the official documentation of the agency.

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Ananta K. Wibawa

Monday, July 03, 2023

THE FIRST AMERICAN HEROINE TO FALL IN THE LINE OF DUTY IN VIETNAM

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