Robert Marl Graham was born in Watertown, NY on August 12, 1920. He graduated from Watertown High School in June 1938 and then became a partner in his father's contracting company. He trained as an aviation cadet from August 4, 1942 and entered the Air Corps in February 1943. He was commissioned a pilot with the rank of second lieutenant in November 1943 at Blytheville Army Airfield, Arkansas. He was then sent to Tucson, Arizona for B-24 training. He was sent to England in March 1944 and assigned to the 863rd Bomb Squadron, 493rd Bomb Group based at Debach, Suffolk, England, completing 30 missions from May to September 1944. He returned to the United States in January 1945 and was released from active duty with the rank of first lieutenant in 1946. He married Polly S. Empsall in October 1950. He died of a heart attack in April 1972.