Robert Evans Drake was born in Pasadena, CA, to COL Frank Drake ’10 and Jenny Leland Drake. Bob attended George Washington High School in San Francisco, then attended the University of San Francisco for two years, achieving the rank of lieutenant in ROTC prior to being appointed to West Point by Congressman J.G. Scrugham of Nevada.

Bob graduated on D-Day, 6 Jun 1944. In the 1944 Howitzer yearbook, his classmates made this prescient observation of Bob: “He is one of those rare individuals combining a hard man on the outside with a warm per­sonality on the inside. Discriminating in all his tastes. Bob has figured out what he wants in life and is out to get it.”

Bob led a tank platoon of Company B, 9th Tank Battalion, 20th Armored Division, in France and Germany during World War II. In the Spring of 1945, his unit crossed the Rhine River, and his platoon helped liberate Dachau Concentration Camp in April 1945.

Upon his return to the U.S., he was as­signed to the Armored Board at Ft. Ord, CA, and later selected for graduate school in Automotive Engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. In May 1946, Bob married Adrienne Moffat, and in May 1947 their son William Moffat Drake was born. Bob commanded the 7th Infantry Division Maintenance Company in Korea and later commanded Company A, 77th Heavy Tank Battalion, when the division moved to Japan.

When North Korea attacked on 25 Jun 1950, Bob commanded a tank company at­tached to the 31st Infantry Regimental Combat Team. When GEN MacArthur made the stra­tegic landing at Inchon, Bob’s tank company achieved its objective at Suwon Airfield.

At this point, an unusual event took place. A jeep driven by a sailor in a white uniform came from Seoul with a message for Bob from the CINC’s command ship. The message read: “Your father died 13 September in San Francisco. Do you have any request regarding this matter? My deepest sympathy, signed, MacArthur.” Scheduled to attack at 0500 the next morning, Bob told the sailor he declined the General’s generous offer and asked him to convey his thanks to the CINC.

In September 1950, Bob’s tank company led the 31st Infantry Regiment to link up with U.S. Forces, after their breakout of the Pusan perimeter. His unit then redeployed by ship around the Korean peninsula to the east coast of North Korea, where the 31st Infantry Regiment crossed into North Korea with the objective of relieving the First Marine Division east of the Chosin Reservoir and continu­ing the attack to the Yalu River. The unit had barely arrived in its forward positions when the Chinese Communist Forces attacked the 31st, killing or capturing over 1,000. Bob’s tank company fought a rear guard action for the remainder of the regiment and for the First Marine Division on its retreat to Hungnam. For this action, his unit was awarded the Navy Unit Citation and two Korean Unit citations.

Bob then returned to the U.S. to attend the Armor Career Course at Ft. Knox, KY. While at the Armored School, he divorced his first wife. He was then appointed as aide-de-camp to General I.D. White in Korea and, later, at Fourth Army Headquarters in San Antonio, TX. In 1955, Bob attended Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS and then served on the Staff and Faculty.

From 1958 to 1961, Bob was designated as Operations Officer, Military Advisory and Assistance Group in France. Among his du­ties: reporting on French armor operations in the Algerian War. He also was the U.S. Liaison Officer to the famous Armor and Cavalry School at Saumur, France.

In 1964, after graduation from the Army War College, Bob returned to the CGSC to serve on the faculty of the College for three years. In 1969, Bob served in Viet Nam as Senior Advisor to the Viet Nam Defense College, patterned after the U.S. Army War College. He also was an advisor to the Vietnamese military delegation to the Paris peace talks.

Upon his return to the United States, Bob was assigned as Director of Professional Military Education in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In this capacity, he assisted in preparing the Department of Defense response to a congressional investiga­tion of staffing of the three service academies and in the implementation of a new concept by the Secretary of Defense for the curricula of the five war colleges.

When Bob announced his intention to retire, he was temporarily assigned to the Department of the Army for the creation of the Defense Mapping Agency.

Bob participated in 13 combat campaigns in Europe, Korea and Viet Nam and was a combat observer for several French Army campaigns in Algeria. During his service, Bob was awarded the Purple Heart, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, the Combat Infantryman Badge, and two Legions of Merit. He was also entitled to wear the U.S. Navy Citation.

Retirement came in 1973. He said that he came to hunt with the Moore County Hounds, but in 1975 he became the Educational Director of the newly created Sandhills Youth Center located at McCain, east of Aberdeen. His task was to establish a curriculum, assemble a competent teach­ing staff and create innovative behavior controls for teaching youthful offenders. Bob’s program was eminently successful, processing over 6,000 youthful offenders, 1,000 of which, earned their high school di­plomas. When he retired in 1991, the school at the Youth Center was named the Drake Education Center.

After retirement from the Youth Center, Bob served as Vice President of the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities and was a member of the Pinehurst Country Club, the Moore County Hounds, the American Legion and the Kiwanis Club.

Bob is survived by his wife of 34 years, Mary Frances G. Landry Drake, and his son William of San Francisco, CA. He was pre­ceded in death by his brothers, COL Leland Rodman Drake ’36 and Frank N. Drake II.