JAMES ROBERTSON • VIETNAM WAR
James Robertson, 80
Gloucester, MA
Born: 6/26/1945
Born/Raised: Beverly/Gloucester
Rank: Specialist E-5 (Sergeant)
205th Assault Helicopter Co. “Geronimos” 612th Transport
Service: US Army
Base Camp Phu Loi, Vietnam
Dates of Service: 1967-1969
Born in Beverly but raised in Gloucester, Lanesvillian James Robertson graduated from GHS in 1963 before attending North Shore Community College where he studied criminal justice. He grew up with his parents James and Evelyn, his sister Jane and his 1st cousin George whom he considered a brother. Shortly after high school James totaled his 1962 Chevy Impala in a serious accident, but luckily suffered no long-term injuries.
After his stint at NSCC, he was both married and drafted in June of 1967. Trained as a helicopter mechanic at Ft. Eustis he was sent to Vietnam in early 1968 right before the Tet Offensive and remained through January 1969. After two months as a crew chief on a Chinook helicopter, he volunteered to return to the relative safety of the ground as a mechanic. “When we’re in flight, a lot of ground fire was coming up at us. You could never see the enemy, but you could see where they were firing from.”
Over the year, as a Spec. E-5 he worked his way into supervising a crew of seven or eight guys working maintenance on the helicopters at Base Camp Phu Loi. By January of 1969 he was on his way home to Gloucester and his then wife, Virginia (Johnson). They have two children, James and Liisa.
On his return he got a security job at United Shoe Company, a position that offered a lot of downtime to study for several different civil service jobs. His first was a stint at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, but that lacked the excitement of what would be his career as a Gloucester Police detective, including five years working undercover on the Cape Ann Regional Strike Task Force. He retired from the GPD in 2002 after 31 years. He now splits his time between Gloucester and Florida.