Colonel Robert E. Byrns was born on January 14, 1910, in Belfield, ND. He attended and graduated from Colorado Teachers College in 1933 with a bachelor’s degree in English and spent the following years teaching in Colorado. During this time he began his military career joining the Colorado National Guard during college and later requested active duty with the Civilian Conservation Corps. In 1940, Byrns was sent to Fort Benning, GA to serve in the Second Armored Division. During World War II he spent a few years at the Armor Center in Fort Knox, KY as a Captain, training recruits. He later served in the South Pacific with the Army Amphibious Forces in 1944.

Following the war, Byrns continued to serve in the Army and was sent to Fort Knox, the Army Arctic Test Center in Alaska. He then went to Fort Monroe in Virginia, where he and his wife Lily had two sons Robert Jr. and Stephen. After serving at Ft. Monroe, the Byrns family was sent to Copenhagen, Denmark.

After 28 years of service, Byrns retired from the army and he went on to obtain his master’s in history from Texas A & M University. in 1964 Byrns and his family moved to San Angelo where he became a professor at San Angelo College, and served as an elder at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church.

Colonel Byrns died on November 5, 1999.