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It would be impossible to recapture in the written word the spirit of <em>Bob Pierpont.</em></p>
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Any sketch would of necessity dwell upon two outstanding characteristics: his intellectual honesty and great love of justice, but these were only two of many facets of a complex and stimulating personality. Those of us who were privileged to know him well know that Bob was an unusual man. He faced the world with a dry wit which cloaked an ethical code of highest concept and a genuine love of his fellow man. Bob passed on to us a portion of himself which has stood us in good stead in the trying years which have passed since he left us.</p>
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Bob was born in Ojai, California, on 15 March 1917. He attended Thacher School in Ojai, a boys’ preparatory school, which he finished in June 1935. Thereafter he went one year to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where his grades rated the commendation of “honorable distinction,” and one year to the University of California in Berkeley. At the latter school he was a member of the Naval ROTC Unit. On 14 September 1936 Bob received a first alternate appointment to the Military Academy from Congressman Stubbs of the 10th District of California, which brought him to West Point in July 1937.</p>
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Cadet academics were easy for Bob, particularly engineering subjects. Despite devoting considerable time to coaching several less fortunate cadets, he graduated 68th in his class of 424. His determined self-reliance and independent spirit made his relations with the Tactical Department less harmonious than with the Academic Departments. Bob was a member of the cadet tennis team and was instrumental in organizing the Squash Club, becoming one of the outstanding members of the first Academy squash team. His early training and experience in California were reflected in his spending much of his free time riding, camping and fishing in the woods surrounding West Point.</p>
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Bob chose the Corps of Engineers as his basic branch. After Graduation Leave he attended the 7th Instructor Course at the Engineer School at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, which he completed on 6 September 1941. On 4 October 1941 Bob embarked for the Philippine Islands aboard the Army Transport “Tasker H. Bliss.” He arrived there on 23 October and was assigned to the 14th Engineer Regiment (Philippine Scouts) as a platoon commander in Company “B”.</p>
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Information on Bob’s movements subsequent to the Japanese attack on the Philippines on 9 December 1941 is sketchy. A Hq U.S. Army Forces in Far East special order dated 24 December 1941 lists Bob as promoted to temporary 1st lieutenant, effective 19 December 1941 (none of his USMA class is known to have been promoted prior to that date). Bob was with the American defenders as they were backed into the Bataan Peninsula. When Bataan fell on 9 April 1942, Bob and 10 comrades set out to evade capture, with the ultimate goal of reaching Panay, which had not at that time been occupied by the Japanese. On 18 April all of the party, except one whose leg wound had forced him to surrender, departed from Bataan in a small assault boat and, by paddling all night, crossed the mouth of Manila Bay to land at Cavite. They continued their journey, losing members along the way, toward southern Luzon. In August 1942 Bob and his three remaining companions surrendered voluntarily to the Japanese because of threats of reprisal against Filipinos who aided them.</p>
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Thereafter Bob was confined at the Japanese military prison camps at Cabanatuan in central Luzon, and at Bilibid in Manila. He apparently withstood well the rigors of prison life—an achievement his father attributes largely to his training at West Point. Bob’s consistent good humor under the most adverse conditions was an inspiration to his fellow prisoners.</p>
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As the tide of war turned and it became apparent that the now victorious American forces would invade the Philippines, the Japanese began evacuating their POWs to rear areas. On 11 October 1944, Bob and nearly 1800 other Americans were loaded on the Arisan Maru, which departed Manila that date, presumably for Japan. On 24 October in the Bashi Strait between Luzon and Formosa, the Arisan Maru was sunk by an American naval vessel. Bob was not among the handful of survivors.</p>
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Bob was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously. He is survived by his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Philip G. Pierpont of Ojai, California; his brother, Mr. Philip G. Pierpont, Jr., of Altadena, California; and his sister, Mrs. Samuel H. Clark of Berkeley, California.</p>
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<em>—Four Classmates</em></p>