09/25/2025
FLORIEN, La. – The remains of a U.S. Army serviceman who died as a prisoner of war during World War II will be buried Tuesday with full military honors.
U.S. Army Pvt. Blanchard E. Pruitt, 19, of Florien, died on Jan. 1, 1943.
Pruitt was a member of the Medical Detachment, 31st Infantry Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands. He was among thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members who were captured and interned at POW camps when U.S. forces in Bataan surrendered. They were subjected to the 65-mile Bataan Death March then held at the Cabanatuan POW Camp No. 1, one of the largest Japanese POW camps in the Philippines.
Pruitt died of pellagra, a disease caused by severe malnutrition and the brutal conditions endured as a prisoner of war. He was buried in the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery in Grave 822.
However, Pruitt’s remains could not be identified when the bodies of those buried in the cemetery were exhumed after the war. The remains were held temporarily in a mausoleum, where they were examined. One set could not be identified as Pruitt so he was declared non-recoverable on Dec. 2, 1949.
In December 2020, as part of the Cabanatuan Project, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, exhumed the remains from Grave 822 and sent them to a DPAA laboratory for analysis. DPAA discovered discrepancies in the cemetery records and ultimately determined Pruitt was buried in Grave 836.
DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence to positively identify Pruitt.
Although buried as an unknown, Pruitt’s grave was cared for over the decades by the American Battle Monuments Commission. He was memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.
After more than 80 years, Pruitt will be laid to rest with full military honors at 2 p.m. Tuesday, with a service at the Anacoco Pentecostal Church and burial at Mitchell Cemetery in Anacoco, beside his parents. Visitation will take place from from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at Warren Meadows Funeral Home in Many.
He was the beloved son of John Lee Pruitt and Quincy Louise Sims Pruitt of Florien. At the time of his death, he was survived by both parents and all seven of his siblings: Samuel L. Pruitt, Lois Lee Pruitt Manasco, James Eugene Pruitt, Johnny Ray Pruitt, Titus Nathaniel Pruitt, Mark Allen Pruitt and Luke Lamar Pruitt. All have since died.
Pruitt is remembered by four living first cousins and numerous nieces and nephews, and generations of great-, great-great- and great-great-great-nieces and nephews, all of whom carry forward his legacy with honor and pride. His memory is cherished by the extended Pruitt, Manasco, Lee, Sandel and Sims families, and by all who honor the service and sacrifice of America’s heroes.
Though he died far from home, Pruitt returns at last to his native soil, surrounded by family and embraced by a grateful nation.
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Credit: William Costello, U.S. Army Resources Command and Warren Meadows Funeral Home.
FLORIEN, La. – The remains of a U.S. Army serviceman who died as a prisoner of war during World War II will be buried Tuesday with full military honors.
