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name
PRUETT, Luster - Date of
birth
29 March 1920 -
Age
24 - Place of
birth
Vandalia, Fayette County, Illinois -
Hometown
Vandalia, Fayette County, Illinois
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
36055844 -
Rank
Private First Class -
Function
unknown -
Unit
B Company,
68th Armored Infantry Battalion,
14th Armored Division
-
Awards
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
13 January 1945 - Place of
death
Rittershoffen, France
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Epinal
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| A | 12 | 63 |
Immediate family
-
Members
Roscoe J. Pruett (father)
Margaret A. (Luster) Pruett (mother)
Harold Pruett (brother)
James P. Pruett (brother)
Delmar Pruett (brother)
Roscoe P. Pruett (brother)
Bruce L. Pruett (brother)
More information
Pfc Luster Pruett was signed by the St. Louis Browns professional baseball team and worked on a farm.He enlisted at Scott Field, Illinois on 2 March 1942 and was sent overseas in October 1944.
It was a bitter cold day and the infantrymen were approaching the town through an orchard when the Germans opened fire with machine guns, tanks and just about everything they had. Kneeland jumped into an abandoned fox hole. He was just five yards away from Pruett. "I'm hit!" the young ballplayer shouted. "Can you crawl over here?" Kneeland called out. Pruett began to move slowly towards the foxhole as Kneeland returned the fire coming from the buildings ahead. Suddenly, a burst of machine gun fire filled the air. When Kneeland looked up, Pruett was dead. When Pruett's body was recovered it was riddled with nine bullet holes.
Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov - WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / Seal Generations Family Tree, www.findagrave.com - Patsy Hittle Gore, http://14thad.org
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Andy