Robert Anthony Hanlon, the youngest child of John Joseph Hanlon and Ellen Murphy, was born on June 14, 1916 in Jersey City and was baptized in Saint Patrick’s R.C. Church.

Hanlon enrolled at Saint Peter’s College in 1934 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts on June 5, 1938. He subsequently entered the United States Navy Reserve, was commissioned as a lieutenant - junior grade, and was activated during WWII. He served as an officer on board the USS Mount Hood AE-11, an ammunition ship moored at the Manus Naval Base in the Admiralty Islands.

On the morning of November 10, 1944, USS Mount Hood was moored at the Manus Naval Base in the Admiralty Islands when its cargo of explosives detonated in a massive blast. The ship with its crew, including Lt. Hanlon, was utterly destroyed. Damage and casualties were also inflicted on ships anchored as far as 2,000 yards away. Personnel casualties on Mount Hood and on other vessels totaled 45 known dead, 327 missing and 371 injured.

The official casualty report shows Lt. Hanlon as "Missing - Reported Dead" by explosion, not enemy action on November 10, 1944. Report of death was received February 12, 1945 and shows injuries as multiple and extreme.

Lt. Hanlon is memorialized at the Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio in Manila, Philippines, as "Killed in Action." He was awarded the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal and the WWII Victory Medal.