Robert Patterson Pierpont was born on March 15, 1917, in Ojai, Ventura County, California. He was the son of Phillip Gardner Pierpont and Violet Louise Paterson Pierpont. He attended the Thacher School in Ojai, completing his studies there in June 1935. He then spent a year at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, earning an honorable distinction, followed by another year at the University of California, Berkeley, where he joined the Naval ROTC Unit. On September 14, 1936, he received a first alternate appointment to the U.S. Military Academy from Congressman Stubbs of California’s 10th District and entered West Point in July 1937.

After graduating in 1941, Bob joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and completed the 7th Instructor Course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in September 1941. The following month, he departed for the Philippine Islands aboard the Tasker H. Bliss, arriving on October 23, 1941, and was assigned as a platoon commander in Company B, 14th Engineer Regiment (Philippine Scouts). When Japan invaded the Philippines in December 1941, Bob fought with the American and Filipino defenders, earning promotion to temporary First Lieutenant on December 19, 1941. After the fall of Bataan on April 9, 1942, he and ten comrades attempted to evade capture, setting out by small assault boat from Bataan across Manila Bay to Cavite, then traveling south through Luzon. After months of hardship and dwindling numbers, Bob and his three remaining companions surrendered in August 1942 to prevent Japanese reprisals against the Filipinos who had helped them.

Following his capture, Bob was imprisoned at Cabanatuan and later at Bilibid Prison in Manila. As American forces advanced toward the Philippines, the Japanese began transferring POWs to Japan. On October 11, 1944, Bob was among nearly 1,800 prisoners loaded aboard the Arisan Maru. Twelve days later, on October 24, the ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Bashi Strait between Luzon and Formosa by an American submarine, unaware that it carried Allied POWs. Bob did not survive.

1Lt Pierpont's name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Manila, Capital District, National Capital Region, Philippines.

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