World War II Honoree

Frank Lloyd Pryor

Branch of Service

U.S. Marine Corps

Hometown

Pryor, Oklahoma

Honored By

Frank Lloyd Pryor

Relationship

Self

ENLISTED AS A MARINE PRIVATE IN OKLAHOMA CITY ON APRIL 7, 1944 AT AGE 18. THE REASON FOR JOINING THE MARINES WAS TO GET INTO BATTLE QUICKLY TO HELP WIN THE WAR. BASIC TRAINING IN SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA; FIELD ARTILLERY CREWMAN TRAINING IN HAWAII, AND WAS THEN TRANSPORTED TO FIGHT ON THE ISLAND OF IWO JIMA. LANDED THE SECOND DAY OF THE BATTLE, FEBRUARY 20, 1945. THANKS TO A FELLOW MARINE, SURVIVED A ROUGH BEACH LANDING. HE AND THE 5 MAN ARTILLERY UNIT OF WHICH HE WAS PART, FOUGHT FOR 24 OF THE 36 DAYS OF THE BATTLE. ON THE FOURTH DAY OF THE BATTLE, FEBRUARY 23, 1945, WITNESSED THE FLAG-RAISING ON MT. SURIBACHI. ON MARCH 16, 1945, WAS TRANSPORTED FROM IWO JIMA TO HAWAII TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL ARTILLERY TRAINING, AFTER WHICH, THE JAPANESE SURRENDERED ON SEPTEMBER 2, 1945. SERVED 9 MONTHS OCCUPATION DUTY IN JAPAN. AFTER SERVING 2 YEARS AND 3 MONTHS, WAS HONORABLY DISCHARGED AS A CORPORAL ON JULY 31, 1946 IN GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS.