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Contact Info
Home Town Lexington
Date of Passing Dec 13, 1965
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Lieutenant General Robert Frederick Sink (April 3, 1905–December 13, 1965) was a United States Army officer during World War II, the Korean War, and early parts of the Vietnam War, though was most famous for his command of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division.
Early career
Sink attended Duke University (then known as Trinity College) for one year before securing an appointment to the United States Military Academy. He graduated with the West Point Class of 1927, 174th in a Class of 203 (Cullum Number 8196) and commissioned as an Infantry Officer. Sink's initial assignment was to the 8th Infantry Regiment in Fort Screven, Georgia as a Second Lieutenant.
Sink took assignments in Puerto Rico (1929, 65th Infantry Regiment), at the U.S. Army Chemical Warfare School (1932), at Fort Meade (1932, 34th Infantry Regiment, with the Civilian Conservation Corps (1933 at McAlevy’s Fort, Pennsylvania), and returned to the 34th Infantry Regiment before heading off to attend the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia (1935).
In November 1937, after assignment to the 57th Infantry Regiment at Fort McKinley, in the Philippines, Sink returned to the United States and was assigned to the 25th Infantry Regiment at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, where he served successively as company commander and regimental operations officer.
World War II
In 1940, he was assigned to the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion at Fort Benning. Sink became one of the four percent of the army’s paratroopers qualified as a master parachutist and celebrated his birthday each year by making another jump.
He later commanded the 503rd Parachute Infantry Battalion and (later) Regiment. In July 1942 he was named as commander of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Toccoa, Georgia; Fort Benning, Georgia; and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Sink commanded the 506th throughout World War II, turning down two promotions during the war to remain with the unit[1] (the regiment sometimes being referred to as the "Five-Oh-Sink') and became a close personal friend to Major Richard Winters. He made two combat jumps in command of the 506th (D-Day and Operation Market Garden), and commanded the Regiment at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
Post war career
On August 12, 1945, Sink was named assistant division commander of the 101st Airborne Division. In December 1945, Sink returned to the United States, and the following month assumed command of the infantry detachment of the United States Military Academy. He entered the National War College at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C. in August 1948, graduating in June 1949. Sink then was transferred to the Ryukyus Command, and became chief of staff in October 1949. In January 1951, he was named assistant commander of the 7th Infantry Division in Korea.
He returned to the United States and became assistant commander of the 11th Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in December 1951. In February 1953, he assumed command at the 7th Armored Division at Camp Roberts, California. In November 1953, he became commanding general of the 44th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington. In October 1954, Sink was assigned to the Joint Airborne Troop board at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In early 1955, he was transferred to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in April 1955 assumed the dual functions of chairman of the United States Delegation to the Joint Brazil-United States Military Commission and chief of army section, Military Assistance Advisory Group, Brazil.
He returned to the United States and assumed Command of the XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg in May 1957. In May 1958, he was announced as commander, Strategic Army Corps (STRAC), United States Army. His last major command was as commander of United States forces in Panama (CinC, Caribbean Command, Quarry Heights, Canal Zone). Lieutenant General Robert Frederick Sink retired in 1961, and died four years later in 1965.
Family
Sink was married and had three children, and two stepchildren.
Other Comments:
Allied Decorations
Distinguished Service Order (Britain)
Belgian Order of Leopold, Officer grade, with Palm
Croix de Guerre with Palm (Belgium)
Belgian fourragere
French Croix de Guerre avec Palme
Dutch Bronze Lion
Netherlands Orange Lanyard
United Nations Korea Medal
Korean Presidential Unit Citation
Promotions
The following is a list of Sink's promotions in chronological order beginning with his graduation from the United States Military Academy as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry.
Second Lieutenant (RA) 14 June 1927
First Lieutenant (RA) 31 August 1933
Captain (RA) 13 June 1937
Major (US) 31 January 1941
Lieutenant Colonel (US) 1 February 1942
Colonel (US) 3 November 1942
Major (RA) 14 June 1944
Major General (US) 11 April 1948
Lieutenant Colonel (RA) 15 July 1948
Brigadier General (US) 13 February 1951
Colonel (RA) 23 March 1951
Brigadier General (RA) 11 April 1955
Major General (RA) 14 April 1955
Lieutenant General (RA) 8 September 1959
Organizations
8th Infantry Regiment
34th Infantry Regiment
Civilian Conservation Corps
57th Infantry Regiment
25th Infantry Regiment
501st Parachute Infantry Battalion
503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment
7th Infantry Division
11th Airborne Division
7th Armored Division
44th Infantry Division
Joint Airborne Troop Board
Military Assistance Advisory Group, Brazil
XVIII Airborne Corps
Strategic Army Corps
Legacy
The post library at Fort Campbell, Ky is named for LtG Robert F. Sink.
Robert Sink was portrayed in the HBO/BBC miniseries Band of Brothers by Vietnam veteran Captain Dale Dye (also the military advisor on the series).
The character of "Colonel Robert Stout" in the film A Bridge Too Far (1977), played by Elliott Gould, is also based on Sink.
Robert Sink was also portrayed in the video game Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, also played by Dale Dye.
photo from LTC Trevor J. Bredenkamp
(A Co, 1st BN, Commander and Unit Historian, ROK, 1998-1999)
COL Robert F. Sink at REGT HQ, Camp Mackall, NC, 1943. This photo and COL Sink's letter to the men of the 506th PIR can be
found on page 3 of the March 1943 issue of the Para-Dice Magazine.
photos from Ronald Stassen, webmaster of WWII Paratrooper Webbase
2007 photos of the house where COL Sink stayed while he was in Angoville au Plain.
photos from the 101st Airborne Division 1957 Yearbook
May 8, 1945: Colonel Sink (center) accepts the surrender of the German LXXXII
Corps from the Commanding General, LTG Theodor Tolsdorff (R of center)
May 1945
(L-R): unidentified 506th PIR captain; MG Maxwell D. Taylor (CO, 101st Airborne Division);
COL Robert F. Sink; unidentified German prisoner; three US Army generals: Edward Hale
Brooks (CO, 2nd Armored Division); Omar N. Bradley (CO, 12th Army Group); and George S.
Patton, Jr. (CO, Third Army)
Could this be a photo of "German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring . . . who motored into
Berchtesgaden and surrendered to Major General Maxwell D. Taylor . . . of the 101st
Airborne Division, 7th US Army, May 13, 1945"?
photo from LTC Trevor J. Bredenkamp
(A Co, 1st BN, Commander and Unit Historian, ROK, 1998-1999)
Handwritten on photo:
To: Mat --
The old reunion jump people
of plane 1 - in Holland and
Normandie - made in France 21 Sept 45 --
Best wishes -- R F Sink
Col
"Mat" is MAJ Salve H. Matheson (506th PIR Regimental S3)
(L-R): COL Robert F. Sink (Assistant Division Commander of the 101st Airborne
Division at the time of this reunion jump in Joigny, France)
MAJ Salve H. Matheson (506th PIR Regimental S3)
LT Bruno E. Schroeder (Intelligence SGT in Normandy)
PVT Oscar S. "Skip" Simpson
name unknown (SGT, REGT Medical Detachment; later, OPS SGT)
CPL Charles N. Ackers
Angelo F.Kalogerakos
PFCPaul F. Van Pelt (COL Sink's Orderly)
SGT Harold Anderson (S4 Secretary).
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Ardennes Alsace Campaign (1944-45)/Battle of the Bulge
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
January / 1945
Description The Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France and Luxembourg on the Western Front toward the end of World War II in Europe. Hitler planned the offensive with the primary goal to recapture the important harbour of Antwerp. The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred the highest casualties for any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's war-making resources.
The battle was known by different names. The Germans referred to it as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein ("Operation Watch on the Rhine"), while the French named it the Bataille des Ardennes ("Battle of the Ardennes"). The Allies called it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase "Battle of the Bulge" was coined by contemporary press to describe the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps and became the best known name for the battle.
The German offensive was supported by several subordinate operations known as Unternehmen Bodenplatte, Greif, and Währung. As well as stopping Allied transport over the channel to the harbor of Antwerp, Germany also hoped these operations would split the British and American Allied line in half, and then proceed to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers' favor. Once that was accomplished, Hitler could fully concentrate on the eastern theatre of war.
The offensive was planned by the German forces with the utmost secrecy, minimizing radio traffic and moving troops and equipment under cover of darkness. Despite their efforts to keep it secret, the Third U.S. Army's intelligence staff predicted a major German offensive, and Ultra indicated that a "substantial and offensive" operation was expected or "in the wind", although a precise date or point of attack could not be given. Aircraft movement from the Russian Front and transport of forces by rail, both to the Ardennes, was noticed but not acted upon, according to a report later written by Peter Calvocoressi and F. L. Lucas at the codebreaking centre Bletchley Park.
Near-complete surprise was achieved by a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions, which grounded the Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces. Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive around Elsenborn Ridge and in the south around Bastogne blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success; columns that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This and terrain that favored the defenders threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. Improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line.
About 610,000 American forces were involved in the battle,[2] and 89,000 were casualties, including 19,000 killed. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II.