John R. "Jack" Pruitt was born on July 4, 1920, in Medford, Oregon. He was the son of Raymond H Pruitt. He was graduated from Medford high school in 1938. He attended the Southern Oregon College of Education at Ashland for two years and joined the National Guard in September 1940.

For a time, he was stationed at Camp Murray with the 41st Division and then transferred to the Air Corps in 1942. At the time of his death, he was serving in the 338th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group, as a Second Lieutenant and Fighter pilot of a P-38. 2Lt Pruitt was Killed in Action on December 22, 1943, over Germany. He was declared Missing in Action and is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov