Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Don Forrester Pratt (July 12, 1892 – June 6, 1944) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

. He was the assistant division commander (ADC) of the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

and was the highest-ranking Allied officer killed on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

Biography

Early life

Born in

Brookfield, Missouri Brookfield is a city in Linn County, Missouri, United States. The population was 4,111 at the 2020 census. History Brookfield was surveyed in 1859 by John Wood Brooks, a native of Boston. John Wood Brooks is further remembered by the names of f ...

, Pratt graduated from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

in 1917. He received his commission as a second lieutenant after enlisting in the army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, in August 1917.Don F. Pratt
-

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

. - Retrieved: 2008-06-08 From 1932 to 1936, he served as adjutant, 15th Infantry Regiment, in

Tientsin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Next he was an instructor, for the infantry school at

Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

, from 1937 until 1941. Upon the United States entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was named chief-of-staff, 43rd Infantry Division, 1941-1942. His next assignment, in August 1942, was as the deputy commander, for the newly formed 101st Airborne Division, at the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

. Pratt was named the assistant division commander on September 15, 1943, under Major General

William C. Lee Major General William Carey Lee (March 12, 1895 –June 25, 1948) was a senior United States Army officer who fought in World War I and World War II, during which he commanded the 101st Airborne Division, nicknamed the "Screaming Eagles". Lee is ...

. Stationed near the town of Newbury,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on February 9, 1944, Lee suffered a major heart attack. Pratt thought that he would be chosen to succeed Lee, but Maxwell D. Taylor, then 82nd Airborne artillery commander, was given command of the 101st Airborne.

Invasion of Normandy

For the American airborne landings as part of the

Invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, General Pratt, originally assigned to command the division train and reserve troops of the 101st to be landed by sea, received permission to land with a force of CG-4A Waco gliders assigned to

Mission Chicago Mission Chicago was a pre-dawn glider-borne combat assault in the American airborne landings in Normandy, made by elements of the 101st Airborne Division on the early morning of June 6, 1944 during the Normandy landings of World War II. It was pa ...

, the first U.S. glider assault during the invasion.Eckert, David. -
Waco Drawings
- Tribute to the American Combat Glider Pilots of World War II. - (c/o www.pointvista.com). - Retrieved: 2008-06-08 Pratt flew as a passenger (along with his aide 1st Lt. Lee John May), in the lead glider, a quickly substituted CG-4A with a bolt-on Griswold nose protection device, painted to represent ''The Fighting Falcon''. The original "Fighting Falcon" was moved to position #45 in the flight serial. It was a CG-4A paid for by War Bond funds raised by

Greenville, Michigan Greenville is a city in Montcalm County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,816 at the 2020 census. History Greenville is named after its founder, John Green, who settled in the wilderness of the southwest part of Montcalm Cou ...

students who intended to raise the $17,000 cost of one glider, but ended up raising over $72,000. Piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Murphy, senior glider pilot of

IX Troop Carrier Command The IX Troop Carrier Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina. It was inactivated on 31 March 1946. As a component command of the Ninth ...

, and Second Lieutenant John M. Butler, the #1 glider came down into its designated landing zone, LZ "E", two miles west of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont,

Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, between 0345 and 0400 hours on June 6, 1944. The Waco glider landed successfully but when Lieutenant Colonel Murphy applied the brakes, the tall wet grass caused the glider to skid without significant slowing, and it overran the landing zone, crashing into a hedgerow line of poplar trees. Lieutenant Colonel Murphy suffered severe injuries, with both legs broken, one a compound fracture. A tree limb came through the co-pilot side of the cockpit, killing Butler. Pratt, sitting in the Jeep, died from a broken neck resulting from

whiplash Whiplash may refer to: * The long flexible part of a whip * Whiplash (medicine), a neck injury ** Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS), in automobiles Film and television * ''Whiplash'' (1948 film), a US film noir about a boxer * ''Whiplas ...

. The Jeep was not chained, but was tied down with nylon rope and did not break loose. Lieutenant May was riding on the jump seat behind the Jeep and survived the crash. Pratt was first buried, wrapped in a parachute, in Normandy until the end of the war, then re-interred at

(Section 11) July 26, 1948. He was succeeded by

Gerald J. Higgins Gerald Joseph Higgins (August 29, 1909 – December 20, 1996) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Army with the rank of major general. During the Second World War, he served consecutively as the Chief of Staff and Assistant Divis ...

, making Higgins the youngest general officer in the Ground Forces during World War II.

Fictionalization

The incident was fictionalized as a scene in the film ''

Saving Private Ryan ''Saving Private Ryan'' is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, the film is known for its graphic portrayal of war, especially its depicti ...

'', with Pratt becoming Brigadier General Amend.Saving Private Ryan: Brigadier General Amend
- Saving Private Ryan Online Encyclopedia. - Retrieved: 2008-06-08

References

*Neillands, Robert, and Roderick de Normann, (2004). - ''D-Day 1944 - Voices from Normandy''. - New York, New York: Cold Spring Press. - *Norberg, John, (2003). - ''Wings of Their Dreams: Purdue in Flight''. - West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press. - pp. 159–160. -

Footnotes

External links

Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum
at

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Divi ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Generals of World War II
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratt, Don United States Army generals United States Army personnel of World War I 1892 births 1944 deaths Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Brookfield, Missouri United States Army personnel killed in World War II United States Army generals of World War II Military personnel from Missouri United States Army Infantry Branch personnel University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni