Robert J. Trewella served in the army as an infantryman in Company K, 3rd Battalion, 350th Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division and took part in combat operations in Italy. During the battle for Mount Battaglia he was separated from his unit and captured on 28 September 1944. Trewella spent seven and a half months as a POW in Moosburg before he was liberated and returned to the United States. He was discharged from the service in late 1945 with the rank of Private First Class (PFC).