Robin Green

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Olds was born into an air force family in Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 14, 1922, and spent much of his boyhood in Hampton, Virginia. His father, Major General Robert Olds (born Robert Oldys Sr.), was an instructor pilot in France during World War I, former aide to Brigadier General Billy Mitchell from 1922 to 1925, and a leading advocate of strategic bombing. Growing up primarily at Langley Field, Virginia, Olds made daily contact with officers who would lead the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II—one neighbor was Carl Spaatz (then a colonel), destined to become the first Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force. On November 10, 1925, his father brought three-year-old Robin to court during Billy Mitchell's court-martial, dressed in an Air Service uniform, and posed with him for newspaper photographers. Olds first flew at age eight in an open cockpit biplane operated by his father. At age 12, he made attending West Point an objective to accomplish his goals of becoming an officer and a military aviator, as well as playing football.

In Their Own Story

Olds attended Hampton High School where he was elected president of his class three successive years, and played varsity high school football on a team that won the state championship of Virginia in 1937. He received offers to attend Virginia Military Institute and Dartmouth College on scholarships. Instead of entering college after graduating in 1939, Olds enrolled at Millard Preparatory School for West Point in Washington, D.C. When Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Olds attempted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force but was thwarted by his father's refusal to approve his enlistment papers. After receiving a conditional commitment for nomination from Pennsylvania Congressman J. Buell Snyder, Olds moved to Uniontown, Pennsylvania, where he lived in the YMCA and supported himself working odd jobs. He passed the West Point entrance examination and was accepted into the Class of 1944 on June 1, 1940. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Olds was sent to the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for flight training, which ended a year later by Christmas 1942. He returned to West Point, hoping to graduate early and see action in the war.

Reader's Guide

At West Point, Olds played varsity college football in both 1941 and 1942. At 6 feet 2 inches and 205 pounds, he played tackle on both offense and defense, lettering both seasons. In 1942 he was named by Collier's Weekly as its "Lineman of the Year" and by Grantland Rice as "Player of the Year." Olds was also selected as an All-American as the cadets compiled a 6–3 record. In the Army–Navy Game of 1942, Olds had both upper front teeth knocked out when he received a forearm blow to the mouth while making a tackle, but returned to the game and reportedly was cheered by the Navy Third and Fourth Classes. In 1985 Olds was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. Olds completed primary training in the summer of 1942 at the Spartan School of Aviation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and basic and advanced training at Stewart Field, New York. He received his pilot's wings personally from Gen. Henry H. Arnold on May 30, 1943, and graduated on June 1 as a member of the Class of June 1943, 194th in general merit of 514 graduates.

Did You Know?

• Olds was born Robert Oldys Jr. in Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 14, 1922.
• He was named All-American as a lineman in college football and was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
• At age three, Olds was brought to Billy Mitchell's court-martial by his father, dressed in an Air Service uniform, and posed for newspaper photographers.
• Olds had both upper front teeth knocked out during the 1942 Army–Navy Game but returned to play and was cheered by the Navy cheering section.
• He was reduced from cadet captain to cadet private at West Point for consuming alcohol, characterized as 'only the second cadet in the history of West Point to earn that dubious honor.'