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By KIM GIBBYeditor@jacksboronewspapers.com
The Jack Museum Board of Directors will honor Jacksboro resident Luther Prunty Wednesday, Nov. 18, during a special ceremony at the Jacksboro High School gymnasium. During the ceremony American Volunteer Reserve National Commander, and ambassador to the Army Reserve, Crews McCulloch will bestow upon Prunty the honorary rank of colonel in the AVR. Prunty is the last survivor of the Texas National Guard, Battery F, Second Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, 36th Division, Texas National Guard more commonly known as the Lost Battalion. Prunty was born in Cundiff on Jan. 11, 1912. He lied about his age joined the Guard while still in high school because he and his family needed the extra income that service brought. He had served 12 years with the Guard and was a sergeant and gun-section chief when President Franklin D. Roosevelt mobilized his unit in November 1940. Prunty and Battery F mobilized from Fort Richardson November 1940, for active duty. They sailed from San Francisco November 1941, and were at sea when Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. In March 1942, the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery Regiment, 365th Divsion, formerly of the Texas National Guard, surrendered to the Imperial Japanese Army on Java in the Dutch East Indies. From then until the end of World War II, Prunty and his fellow captives lived in various Japanese prison camps throughout the Dutch East Indies, Southeast Asia and the Japanese Islands.
They were forced to work for their captives throughout the ordeal, performing grueling tasks that included work in industrial plants and mining coal in Japan, but most notably, building the Burma-Thailand “Death Railway.” During his three and a half years in captivity, Prunty experienced appalling brutality at the hands of his captors – prolonged malnutrition and extreme overwork. At one point, Prunty was so ill that he was refused food because he could not work. Prunty credits his friend from Jack County and fellow captive, the late Peanut Johnson, for saving his life. Johnson, who was a cook in the prison camp, would scrape the burnt rice off the pans and hide it until he could bring it back to Prunty. This kept Prunty alive until he regained strength and was able to go back to work, at which time his regular meager meal allotment was restored. The captives were liberated on Aug. 27, 1945, and Prunty spent 40 days at a Calcutta hospital before being transferred to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C. It was there that he met his wife of more than 60 years, Dorothy. He left the military in 1946, laden with medals and a Purple Heart. Next Wednesday, Prunty will have another medal on his chest: an eagle to denote the honorary rank of colonel in the American Volunteer Reserve. The AVR is a military and veterans service and support organization. Members include prior service and non-prior-service patriotic citizens, men and women, possessing special skills that contribute to fulfillment of the AVR mission. The organization operates along a traditional military cadre structure. There are trained volunteer reservists who make up headquarters elements, Veterans Honors Detachments, Communications Detachments, Medical Companies and General Support Battalions. Members also support military funeral honors. Troops are regularly detailed for local, regional and national military and veterans commemorations, parades and color guard duties. During times of natural or man-made disasters, AVR services include medical and other emergency response teams to serve the public. They also assist with communications, chaplain services, crowd control, mounted units and private aircraft for search and rescue, engineer units, public affairs and administrative support. The community is invited to this special ceremony honoring Prunty at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday at the high school gymnasium. A reception will follow at the Jack County Museum. Rosalie Gregg, the widow of a Lost Battalion survivor, will bring a collection artifacts relating to the POWs’ ordeal from the Wise County Heritage Museum. |
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