US Army PFC Robert Lee Slatten Jr. was born in Warrington, Florida on April 17, 1917, the son of Sergeant Robert Lee Slatten Sr. (1877-1949) and Catherine Pauline Carroll (1884-1953). His father enlisted in the US Army in Nashville, Tennessee on May 22, 1900, and was a veteran of the Spanish American War. He came to Pensacola in 1901 and was stationed at Fort Barrancas with the Coast Artillery as a sergeant of Company "D" of the 2nd Regiment. He would reenlist on February 17, 1908, at Barrancas at the age of 30 and was finally discharged on July 2, 1910. He became a riveter in civilian life and eventually became a captain of the NAS police force by 1918. He would be appointed its first civilian Chief of NAS Police by 1920.
His son Robert Lee Jr. was a graduate of Pensacola High School in the Class of 1937 before attending St. Bernard and Springhill Colleges. Two years later, he married a former classmate of his from the Class of 1935 by the name of Gwendolyn Maxine Ingram (1918-1979). The two were joined in marriage on September 18, 1939, at St. John's Catholic Church in Warrington. In 1940, he was working at the San Carlos Hotel as a clerk for Phil Sanchez. while the young couple was living at 101 Barrancas Avenue near Cary's Lane.
After WWII began, he enlisted in the US Army on December 16, 1942 and was sent to Camp Blanding, Florida for processing and orientation. After basic training, he was assigned to Battery "B" of the 251 Field Artillery, with the 25th Infantry Division. The 251st Antiaircraft Artillery Group was sent to Bougainville before departing on December 11, 1944. Prior to his departure he received a letter from Gwendolyn that she had given birth to their son Robert Ernest Slatten on July 2, 1944 ,in San Diego, California. With that thought in mind he embarked on his troop transport and set sail for the battle of Luzon in the Philippines on January 9, 1945. The battle was long and bloody finally ending on August 15. And it was during August that he was admitted to the US Army Hospital with a rifle wound to the thigh. No serious injury resulted and there was an indication that had been a training accident.
Upon his return to the states, he was sent to Oliver General Hospital in Augusta, Georgia in October 1945 where he was examined by the Army doctors. This time he was diagnosed with acute poliomyelitis along with bronchopneumonia. Apparently, there was little the medical profession of the day could do but release him to his parents. In his hometown of Pensacola, he passed away on October 24, 1945, and was buried in Barrancas National Cemetery.
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