Robert Ila Wheat was born on March 6, 1918, in DeWitt, Arkansas County, Arkansas. He was the son of Ila and Shirley Peak Wheat. He was married to Dorothy Fairlamb Wheat. He attended Conway public schools and spent three years at Hendrix College, where he excelled academically and graduated salutatorian from Conway High School. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Class of 1940. Although he “ranked” the Engineers in his West Point Class, he chose instead to join the Coast Artillery and began Anti-Aircraft training at Fort Monroe in August 1940. A month later, on September 14, 1940, he and his wife sailed from New York City aboard the U.S.A.T. Grant, arriving at Corregidor on October 31, 1940. There, he was appointed Transportation Officer of the 92nd Coast Artillery (Philippine Scouts) Regiment.

After the Fall of Corregidor in May 1942, Bob Wheat was captured by Japanese forces and endured nearly three years of harsh imprisonment. In December 1944, he was placed aboard a Japanese prison ship that was later sunk during an air raid; though he survived the sinking, he was transferred through a series of hell ships to Japan. Severely weakened by malnutrition, disease, and exhaustion until his death on February 22, 1945, in Fukuoka POW Camp #1. He is now buried in the Lonoke Cemetery, Lonoke, Lonoke County, Arkansas, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, alumni.westpointaog.org