Fred Beryl Pruett proudly served his country in WWII. Suffered from injuries the rest of his life – but never complained about his service to our country. The articles reveal his character – one of his companions said “Fred single handedly held off the Japs” but Fred humbly denies it. Fred received a purple heart for being wounded and a bronze star for rescuing a fallen comrade. James Travis Pruitt has retold the story that one of Fred’s comrades was injured in battle and Fred helped him to safety and protected him through the night of heavy gunfire andh in the morning when the “dust cleared” and their company came back for them, the commanding officer said “Pruett, you old hillbilly I knew you’d be alive”. The commanding officer did not mean hillbilly in derogatory way.