To many Santa Cruzans Bob Overstreet would always be remembered as a fiddle player in a hillbilly band.

Robert E. Overstreet was born in California on September 9, 1922, to Claude and Grace Overstreet. The family, which also included his brother William and sisters Fay and Fern, later moved to Santa Cruz. Upon completing elementary and junior high schools Overstreet enrolled in Santa Cruz High School. To supplement his allowance he worked as a newspaper carrier for the Santa Cruz Sentinel and at Miller's hot dog stand on the beach boardwalk. During his high school years, Overstreet was frequently seen playing a fiddle in a local hillbilly band.

Following graduation from high school in 1940, Robert Overstreet attended Salinas Junior College for one semester. It was probably during that period that he enlisted in Company C of the 194th Tank Battalion of the National Guard.

Private Overstreet trained at Fort Lewis, Washington, from February to September 1941, and then shipped out with his company to the Philippine Islands. After arriving at Manila on September 27, 1941, he served at nearby Fort Stotsenburg. While stationed there, he rose in rank to a Technician Fifth Grade.

When the Japanese invaded the island in December 1941, Overstreet helped defend Manila and the Bataan peninsula before being forced to surrender on April 9, 1942. After surviving the Bataan Death March, he was confined to Cabanatuan Prison Camp #1 in the Philippines until his death from unspecified causes on August 5, 1942.

After World War II, the remains of Robert E. Overstreet were exhumed and returned to the US for reburial in Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California on July 24, 1950.

(NARA2; SCHSC Pg. 15; USDVA; 194TB; SCSn May 21, 1943
1:5; SCR May 28,1943