Robert E. Werner was born in 1924, in California. He served in the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, as a Private during World War II.

On June 6, 1944, Pvt Werner, one of the paratroopers from the 507 PIR jumped from C47 #42-92382 far from their intended drop zone following a brief firefight by a German convoy, and was taken prisoner by the Germans. Pvt Werner with six other captured paratroopers were interrogated and then taken back to a wooded area where they were executed by the Germans. They were shot in the back of the head and buried in a hastily dug pit. Local villagers exhumed their bodies and reburied them in the communal cemetery of Hémevez. Pvt Werner is now buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Departement du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. He was posthumously awarded the Prisoner Of War Medal, and the Purple Heart in recognition of his bravery and sacrifice.