FEATURED STORY
Returning to His Beginnings
Army Major General Discovers His Long-Lost Family During One Eventful Year
BY TY DEMARTINO ’90
For many, 2021 was a lost year due to the pandemic – working from home, limited travel, restricted access to friends and family. But for Frostburg alum and Major Gen. Robert L. Edmonson, II ’90, the year couldn’t have been more eventful.
In August, Edmonson was appointed as the 17th commander of the U.S. Army Communications- Electronics Command and Senior Commander for Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, responsible for enabling the Army’s warfighting readiness by providing sustainable global C5ISR and medical materiel support. And in October, he discovered his long-lost family. It has been a major year for this Major General.
Edmonson’s story began in Germany, 55 years ago, where he was adopted by Robert Edmonson, a noncommissioned Army officer, and his Austrian wife, Margaret. When his father retired from the Army, Edmonson was brought up as an only child in the township of Willingboro, N.J.
“I was raised by a tremendously loving family,” said the two-star general during a Zoom call conducted from his offices at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Md.
A lean and fit man, Edmonson admits to being “bigger” during his college days. Before exploring his bachelor’s degree, he decided to attend a local community college.
“Being one of the first in my family to attend college, it was not abnormal to begin at a local community college,” he said. “[My parents] sacrificed to send me to college.”
One day while on campus, Edmonson was approached by an admissions recruitment officer from a small, four-year college in Western Maryland that “just received University status.” That college was Frostburg State. The recruiter invited Edmonson and his father to visit Frostburg and explore its football program. Their first stop was to meet with then-Head Football Coach Dennis Riccio. But it was a shortcut through the Lane University Center that significantly changed the course of Edmonson’s life. When Edmonson’s father spotted Staff Sgt. Butch Fultz at an ROTC recruitment table in the student union, he knew Frostburg was the right place for his only son.
“At that moment, he made the decision that I was going to attend Frostburg State University,” confided Edmonson. “I showed a little bit of interest in the Army. He encouraged me to become an officer.”
While playing college football, juggling his studies and participating in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Edmonson enrolled in FSU’s ROTC program, receiving a commission as a second lieutenant in 1991.
“[My father] was elated, grinning from ear to ear that his son had earned a commission,” said Edmonson, who still clings to the skills he learned at FSU, including the fundamentals of leadership and attention to detail. “The ROTC Department at Frostburg State University during my tour was one of the best in the country.”
Edmonson, who majored in business marketing, also appreciated what he called the “diversity of thought” Frostburg afforded him.
“Growing up primarily in New Jersey, Frostburg allowed me to meet different people from different walks of life. That was highly valuable.”
He still cherishes the special moments at FSU. Living in Cambridge Hall, Edmonson remembered proposing to his now wife, Ellen, in his dorm room. The two have been together for more than 31 years.
“I graduated on Dec. 15. We got married on Dec. 19 and headed to Fort Benning, Ga., after that,” he recalled with a big smile.
Edmonson has returned to his alma mater a few times over the years for events such as the dedication of the new campus Veterans Center and a Veterans Day football game that included recognition of campus veterans and active service members. “I’d like to thank FSU for their continued support of our veterans,” he added.
His list of command assignments includes A Company, 82nd Signal Battalion; 63rd Expeditionary Signal Battalion; 35th Signal Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps; and service as the 38th Chief of Signal/Commandant of the Army Signal School. He has received numerous awards, including the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal and Defense Meritorious Service Medals.
“I don’t think a lot about the awards and achievements I’ve received over the years,” he said, clarifying that he would rather view them as reminders about the relationships and experiences that come with service.
Maj. Gen. Robert L. Edmonson II, ’90, tosses the coin before the football game held Veterans Day, 2021.
Army Family – Known and Unknown
The Edmonsons have moved 15 times, interspersed with his three deployments, two to Afghanistan and one to Iraq.
Referring to Ellen and his two grown sons, Robert III and Alexander, he said, “The Edmonsons are an Army family. The Army often talks about recruiting a soldier but retaining a family. We are an example of what it means to serve the nation as a family.”
When Edmonson received his latest appointment to Aberdeen Proving Ground last summer, he viewed the move back to Maryland as a homecoming.
“I’m returning to my beginnings,” he said.
As the Commander of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command and Senior Commander for APG, Edmonson is the “commanding general for a 9,000-person, two-star global command and senior commander of a 28,000-person military base, serving as the U.S. Army’s Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and medical materiel integrator.”
Despite having the best cyber intelligence and full communications and surveillance teams at his command, it was a simple DNA test that uncovered the family Edmonson never knew.
When Edmonson’s son, Robert III, decided to trace his ancestry, it was revealed he had close relationships to two men – Brian and Eric Jackson. They turned out to be Edmonson’s half-brothers. Edmonson’s biological father, Edward Jackson, a Vietnam veteran, found out he had a son who was given up for adoption. He told Brian and Eric about his lost son. Even after their father’s death in 2007, Brian and Eric looked for their brother and finally got the chance to meet him this past fall.
When ABC News showed up with cameras to cover the reunion in Fort Knox, Ky., Edmonson wore a black FSU polo shirt for photos. At this first meeting, it was apparent all three were brothers – sharing the same eyes, smile and mannerisms.
Maj. Gen. Robert Edmonson, II, left, meets with brothers Brian Jackson, center, and Col. Eric Jackson.
However, Edmonson had additional, almost uncanny similarities with his new brother, Eric, who is an Army colonel, who also served as a captain in the 82nd Airborne Division and who was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha – just like his big brother. (Edmonson let his little brother off the hook and jokingly told him he did not have to call him “sir,” despite his outranking him.)
Edmonson smiled again thinking of his newly found siblings. “I’m extremely grateful for my brothers,” he said, looking ahead to a vacation with their extended families next spring.
For Edmonson, he welcomed the unexpected changes that 2021 brought to his life. The Major General anticipates the happy times to come.
“Brian and Eric have known about me for five decades. So this brings closure to them. They need not wonder anymore where their brother is,” he added. “With this chapter closed it’s time to begin the next chapter aimed at developing relationships with my brothers.”