World War II Honoree

Glenn Duane Pratt

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

Ottumwa, Iowa

Honored By

Katelyn and Aaron Mize

He was drafted into the Army in 1942. Scoring high on proficiency tests, he was originally assigned to attend an engineering program at the University of Oregon. With the war effort ramping up, the program was cancelled within a year and he was briefly reassigned to a rifle company. His background as a grocer was soon noticed so he was again reassigned to the 3rd Army, 11th Armored Division (The Thunderbolts), 63rd Armored Infantry Battalion to drive a ration truck. In Patton's 3rd Army he earned three bronze battle stars for action in the Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe. He was at the Battle of the Bulge and assisted in withdrawing the 101st Airborne from the front line. Pushing into Germany with the 11the Armored, his convoy was stopped by Military Police with a warning to hold as the infantry had not yet taken the town just in front of him. Pushing into Austria, his Division was one of the first to contact Russian soldiers. On May 8, 1945 he was in Zwettl, Austria and with the rest of the 11th Armored, observed V-E day as the easternmost allied unit on the Western Front. He was honorably discharged January 9, 1946.