Robert Emmett Pierson was born at Madison, Morris County, New Jersey on November 18, 1923. His parents were Emmett (or Emmet) Eugene Pierson (14 Nov 1896 – Dec 1964), who was born at Chatham Township, Morris County, New Jersey; and Margaret A. (Osborne) Pierson (16 Nov 1896 – 1962), who was born in New Jersey. His father served with the U.S. Marines in France during World War I; he was a Private First Class in Company H, 6th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which was part of the 2d Infantry Division (the Indian Head Division) of the 3rd U.S. Army. His father's unit fought in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in November 1918, and was on the front line in northeastern France when the Armistice took effect. His father's unit then participated in the March to the Rhine and the occupation of Germany in 1918–1919. His father returned to the States in August 1919, and his parents married about 1921.

He had a brother, Eugene Joseph Pierson Sr (30 Nov 1921 – 17 Jul 2010); and a sister, Helen (Pierson) Cooper (abt 1934 – unk). By April 1935 the family lived at 4 Emmett Street, Chatham Township, Morris County, New Jersey. His father was a carpenter and a fireman; later he worked as a retail grocery merchant and store clerk. In 1942 his father was employed by the New Jersey State Highway Department at Netcong, Morris County, New Jersey.

He registered for the draft at Madison, New Jersey on June 30, 1942. He was 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighed 175 pounds, and had brown eyes and brown hair. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and completed Army Air Forces aerial gunnery training in 1943. He was assigned as nose turret gunner on the heavy bomber crew of Lt Joseph P. Willis in the 838th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group. The Willis crew completed B-24 crew training with the 487th Bomb Group at Alamogordo Army Air Base, New Mexico, and deployed with the Group to England in March 1944. They flew B-24H 42-52577 from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Lavenham, England via the southern Atlantic ferry route—a journey of about 10,000 miles—and arrived in England by mid-April 1944. The 487th Bomb Group was based at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England, and was part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

On May 29, 1944 the 487th Bomb Group dispatched two Squadrons of B-24s to bomb the oil refinery at Politz, Germany (which is now Police, Poland). After leaving the target, the formation was attacked by German fighters in the vicinity of the rally point. Sgt Pierson and eight of his crewmates went missing in action when their aircraft, B-24H 42-52577, was shot down by German Me 410 fighters and exploded over the Baltic Sea within sight of Bornholm Island. Their bodies were never found.

The aircraft was seen going down due north of the target at about 54°02'N, 14°42'E, one to two miles from the coast. Lt Willis assumed a northwesterly course towards Sweden. Witnesses saw fuel leaking from the bomb bay, which appeared to stop when an engine was feathered. The aircraft exploded, and witnesses saw it crash in the Baltic Sea at 1240 hours at 54°47'N, 14°00'E, about 20 miles northeast of Rugen Island, Germany. The navigator, Lt Edgar Allan Grabhorn, was blown clear in the explosion and survived. He was rescued later that day at 1815 hours by the German fishing vessel Oskar Friedrich at 54°39'N, 14°36'E, where he was found floating in a life raft. He became a prisoner of war.

Sgt Pierson is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery.

B-24H 42-52577 crew:
• Willis, Joseph P – 2/Lt – Pilot – MIA
• Wasson, Robert L – 2/Lt – Copilot – MIA
• Grabhorn, Edgar A – 2/Lt – Navigator – POW
• Slusarczyk, Stanley A – 2/Lt – Bombardier – MIA
• Estright, Alfred T – Sgt – Engineer – MIA
• Robinson Jr, Richard S – S/Sgt – Radio Operator – MIA
• Rodgers, Gilbert E – Sgt – Ball Turret – MIA
• Pierson, Robert E – Sgt – Nose Turret – MIA
• Jones, William E – Sgt – Top Turret – MIA
• Donnelly, Robert J – Sgt – Tail Turret – MIA

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com