<div>
<em>Robert Pennell</em> was born 17 December 1914, at Fort Sill, Okla., the son of Major General (then 1st Lt., F.A.) (USMA 1906) and Mrs. Ralph M. Pennell, now retired in Lawton, Okla. Bob grew up in a military atmosphere and with the years he enjoyed and appreciated the Army with its responsibility, traditions, and discipline. When only 18, Bob enlisted and was assigned to the 15th Field Artillery Battalion, Fort Sam Houston, Tex., for a one-year tour of duty. Upon discharge, to pursue his education, he entered Rice Institute, Houston, Tex. However, Bob’s goal was to enter West Point and appointments were unavailable. The story had been told that Bob, while in Washington, D.C., sat at the entrance to the House of Representatives and as congressmen would enter or exit, Bob would approach them for an appointment. His patience and persistence were rewarded, as he received an appointment from a South Carolina congressman.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
On 1 July 1935, Bob entered the United States Military Academy as a member of the largest class up to that date. In this new environment, he felt a sense of pride and belonging. While not a brilliant student in academics, Bob had a certain flair for military history and tactics. He had a strong determination to learn the essentials of fighting, combined with the necessary elements of leadership, discipline, faith in the cause, and the performance of one’s duties to his country.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In 1939, Bob graduated and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Infantry. He was assigned to the 57th Infantry (Philippine Scouts), Manila, Philippine Islands. Late in 1940 and early in 1941, dark clouds of war appeared on the horizon and the Philippine Army began to mobilize and expand under General MacArthur into a fighting force. As a company officer, Bob’s main task was to instruct officers and noncommissioned officers of this new army at Fort William McKinley, Manila. The program of instruction and training in tactics, weapons, and equipment was intensive, especially for a 2d lieutenant. In November 1941, Bob was transferred from the Infantry to the Artillery Branch and reassigned to the 24th Field Artillery (Philippine Scouts), Stotsenberg, Luzon. Here he continued to serve as an instructor. A month later, Pearl Harbor came and Bob moved into the battlefield of Bataan.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
For five critical months, Bob’s unit formed a part of the artillery defensive chain across Bataan which served to stave off the Japanese’ initial forward movement toward Marivelles. Early in January 1942, a report indicated that Japanese had infiltrated behind our defensive lines. On receiving this information, Bob organized a patrol and moved into the ABO-ABO River Valley to verify its accviracy. It was there that Bob, locating the enemy, engaged in a skirmish with the Japanese force and had the index finger on his right hand shot off.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
On 9 April 1942, Bataan fell and Bob was incarcerated by the Japanese. The Bataan March and the capitulation of Corregidor one month later became history. Cabanatuan, Luzon, was established as the prisoner of war camp in the Philippines. On 6 November 1942, Bob was in a contingent of 1,500 prisoners of war that left Cabanatuan for Japan. Leaving Manila on board the <em>Nagata Maru</em>, it took 19 days to reach Moji, Japan. Arriving on Thanksgiving Day, the group was immediately transferred to a special train destined for Kobe and Osada, Japan. Bob detrained with a group that went to Umeda Bunsho of the Mitsubishi Company, Osaka, where for a period of eight months he worked as a stevedore at the freight stations and docks. In August 1943 he was sent to Zentsuji, Shikoku, where he remained until the US Air Force threatened to bomb the Japanese military installations located there. The Japanese authorities then moved the American group to Roku Roshi (near Fukui), Honshu.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It was during the incarceration in Japan that I got to know Bob more intimately. It is disquieting to discover oneself behind a barbed wire fence under the control of the enemy where freedom is snuffed out, at least for the moment; where new anxieties of hunger, fatigue, and tension are created, and the enemy’s course of action is an enigma. In this environment of uncertainties, Bob was equipped with necessary courage and fortitude. Although not a physically strong man, he was endowed with the training and heritage to carry on this phase of battle and endure its hardships. In his energetic, yet quiet and direct way, he took this opportunity of serving others. He assisted, visited, and commiserated with the sick and dying; he helped to carry the dead to their last resting place. When the outlook was bleak with unreasonable rumors and empty stomachs, Bob furnished a bit of humor with witty sketches and prose and tried to lend assurance and strength as confidence in freedom began to slip. Because of his integrity and moral qualities his fellow inmates selected him to ration equally rice and soup issued in buckets. He was enkindled with sympathy and fellowship for all those around him; however, when thoughtless and inconsiderate prisoners illegally acquired food and clothing from their fellow men, Bob, serving on a board, was able to mete out justice to preserve order and discipline.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
During this period of his incarceration, Bob was never heard to complain about his health. On 15 August 1945, the Roku Roshi prisoners of war were notified of their liberation and thus in October, Bob returned to the United States. A physical checkup revealed that Bob had contracted a serious ailment during his incarceration. For nearly a year, he fought an uphill battle and finally in November 1946, Bob received a clean bill of health and returned to duty.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
One of the best medicines for Bob while in the hospital was a Red Cross girl stationed there, Mary Pratt. On 15 November 1946 they were married. It was she who gave him that incentive and reason to live. From the beginning, it was clearly evident that they were designed for each other and deep devotion was a two-way proposition.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
After release from the hospital in 1946, Bob was assigned as S-3, 17th Field Artillery Battalion, Fort Sill, Okla., where he attended the Artillery Officers Advance Course. After graduation he was retained as a member of the faculty, Department of Materiel. When the Korean War made its impact on the school, there was a requirement to increase the student capacity and training. Bob’s warm personality, dignity, and leadership, as well as his administrative ability to arouse a cooperative atmosphere, helped to reestablish the Department of Motors as part of the Department of Materiel. The task included the acquisition, rehabilitation, and equipping of classrooms, manning platforms with trained instructors, and the crash development of abbreviated programs for instructions. This task completed, he was then assigned to reestablish the Artillery OCS Course.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In 1951, from Fort Sill, Bob went to Command and General Staff College, then to an abbreviated tour at Fort Hood, Tex., and from there to Germany. In Germany he became assistant executive, Hq Division Artillery, 2d Armored Division. In this position he conducted the planning and execution of the Army Field Forces Battalion tests. A year later he was given the command of 756th Field Artillery Battalion.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In June 1954, he returned to the United States and served as chief and action officer in the Training Branch, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, 8534th DU, Washington, D. C., until June 1957. His next assignment was USARPAC (Japan), where he took over duties as detachment executive officer and Artillery advisor with US Army Element, MAAG, Japan. Only 12 years before, Bob was released from the Japanese prisoner of war camp; now he was back again in Japan, this time assisting them in a military big-brother role. It can be said that charity in Bob flowed to over-abundance and he worked toward all that was noble and worthy.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
After returning to the United States in June 1961, he was assigned to attend the US Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, PA. It was during this period that cancer struck, admitting him to Walter Reed Hospital. Although from the first the outcome looked black, Bob remained undaunted, facing the uncertainties of the future with magnificent courage and optimism. And he did return to the War College to finish the course and graduate with his class in June 1961.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
He was authorized the Silver Star; the Bronze Star Medal; First Oak-Leaf Cluster to Bronze Star Medal; American Defense Service Medal with Foreign Service Clasp; Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Bronze Service Star for the Philippine Islands Campaign; World War II Victory Medal; Army of Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp; National Defense Service Medal; Combat Infantryman Badge; Distinguished Unit Emblem with two Bronze Oak-Leaf Clusters; Philippine Defense Ribbon with one Bronze Service Star; Marksman Badge with Pistol Bar; and Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Badge.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
From the Army War College, he was reassigned to duties as Chief, Artillery Tactics Division, Tactics & Combined-Arms Department, Artillery and Missile School, and Chief Resident Instructor at Fort Sill. However, his illness continued to plague him and he began to deteriorate rapidly. On 2 November 1961, Bob was retired on physical disability. The curtain then began to close for Bob and on 19 December 1961, two days after his 47th birthday, he proudly assumed his place in the Long Gray Line. He died at the Fort Sill Army Hospital and was laid to rest in the Post Cemetery, Fort Sill.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Bob is survived by Mary and three wonderful children—two sons, Robert and Michael; one daughter, Robin—all who give her the necessary courage to carry on. In addition to his family and parents, Bob is survived by two sisters—Mrs. Norma Boyd, wife of Colonel R. K. Boyd (Ret) and Mrs. Elizabeth Leahy, wife of Colonel O. A. Leahy.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Of Bob it may be said; he would rather do a kind deed, be it ever so simple than to take his ease; find something interesting in every disagreeable task and be patient in those moments when his soul was sore and beset. In this way, he maintained the Honor of the Corps untarnished and unsullied.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<em>—Lt. Col. S.C. Farris</em></div>
<div>
</div>