He walked to school and joined the "Junior Yanks" which was a program for kids run by World War 1 veterans. They met once a week, wore special uniforms, received medals and badges, and did military-like drills. During the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States], he did not have a bicycle because his family did not have the money to buy one. His friends shared their bikes with him, or he would just run with them. His parents had no idea where he was throughout the afternoon, but they never had any concern for him. He walked to the nearby church, and many of the men took the trolley to work. The parents in the neighborhood often sat on their porches waiting for the evening gulf breeze to come through. They had no refrigeration at the time, but they had ice boxes. As his father made more money, they moved to a bigger house. He went to a used radio store and bought an old radio. After he brought it home, he took it apart and rebuilt it to be a transmitter radio. In junior high school, he enjoyed taking shop classes that included mechanical and metal work. He learned how to use a lathe and a forge. During dove season [Annotator's Note: a type of bird hunting season], they brought their shotguns to school and then headed to some nearby woods to go dove hunting afterwards. During his time in high school, he served in the ROTC [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps]. It was a full regiment with four companies and a band. The school hosted monthly dances at the gym. After he graduated from high school, he attended San Antonio Junior College [Annotator's Note: now San Antonio College, in San Antonio, Texas] and competed his courses in two years. He then attended Saint Mary's University [Annotator's Note: in San Antonio, Texas]. He did not know much about world affairs in the late 1930s. Americans were pacifists and did not want to participate in war. Pratt purchased two old Ford Model-Ts. He worked on one and used the other for parts. He eventually got it to run and took it on a day trip. He was aware of the Spanish Civil War [Annotator's Note: Spanish Civil War, 1936 to 1939] and dreamed of fighting for the Spanish Royalists against the German-backed Nationalists. His uncle, Herman von Kramer, served as a military attaché in Berlin [Annotator's Note: Berlin, Germany] at the time. He was more aware of the growing hostilities in Germany because of his relation to his uncle and because his town was pro-military.

Robert W. "RW" Pratt worked in an art studio for an artist. He made picture frames and sometimes was used as a model. On a Sunday morning, he was at the studio working for the artist when an announcement came over the radio that Pearl Harbor had been bombed [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. Their first question to each other was, "Who the hell is Pearl Harbor?" He quickly learned more about the event. Pratt felt a sense of excitement and was spellbound when he heard news of the attack. He felt an outlet open for him, not fear or terror as the country entered war. He could not wait to join up and "kill the Japs" [Annotator's Note: a period derogatory term for Japanese]. He began to see recruiters come to San Antonio [Annotator's Note: San Antonio, Texas], and the city became full of soldiers. He saw many soldiers in World War 1 uniforms. Pratt met Patton [Annotator's Note: US Army Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.], when he went to see his uncle make General. After World War 2 began, it seemed that everyone had money. It was the first time he had disposable money. While he worked in the library for 10 cents an hour, he often read books about ships, British naval warfare, and British Naval commanders. He loved the water and taught himself to sail. He was eager to be in the Navy. A religious brother at St. Mary's University [Annotator's Note: St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas], where Pratt was at the time, advised him to apply for the V-7 program [Annotator's Note: V-7 US Navy Midshipmen Officer Candidates Program, 1940 to 1945] so he could become a naval officer. 15 October 1942, Pratt went downtown to the recruiting office with the proper V-7 papers, where they in turn bought him a ticket to Houston [Annotator's Note: Houston, Texas] so he could submit his application there. When he arrived at the Navy recruiting office in Houston, they gave him various mental and physical tests. When they gave him a physical, he was slightly under the minimum weight requirements. The doctor told him to eat a big dinner and not to go to the bathroom. The next morning, he was told to eat a big breakfast, drink a lot of water, and then stand on the scale again. He had gained enough pounds to pass his physical. After he passed all his tests, he was accepted in the Navy Reserve and was sent home to wait. The Navy gave him an identification card, a badge, and a pin. He continued his education at St. Mary's University until he received orders from the Navy.

After being accepted into the Navy V-7 program [Annotator's Note: V-7 US Navy Midshipmen Officer Candidates Program, 1940 to 1945], Robert W. "RW" Pratt was sent to Georgetown College, in Georgetown, Texas [Annotator's Note: now Southwestern University] to prepare him for the program's rigorous training and education. He did physical training. He also took courses in geopolitics, Navy history, seamanship, battle history, and performed experiments in the science labs. Pratt felt well prepared for many of his classes because he had already read about most of the courses' subjects while working at a library before World War 2. The program at Georgetown college was not organized because they were one of the first group of enlistees and they were waiting for spots to open at the Academy [Annotator's Note: United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland]. He was allowed to leave Georgetown and go home to San Antonio [Annotator's Note: San Antonio, Texas] for Thanksgiving [Annotator's Note: 26 November 1942. When he returned to school and went to his room, he saw that his bed was rolled up. He was concerned at first that he was thrown out of the program, but he quickly learned that he was ordered to go to the train station and head to Norfolk [Annotator's Note: Norfolk, Virginia]. Because he was in an ROTC program [Annotator's Note: Reserve Officer Training Corps] during high school, he was put in charge as Petty Officer of several men during the train ride. When they reached Cincinnati [Annotator's Note: Cincinnati, Ohio], they missed their train and had to wait for another. When they reached their destination in Norfolk, they were assigned to barracks. There still were not any new openings in the V-7 program, so he given remedial jobs like chipping paint. After about two weeks, he was finally sent to Auxiliary Naval Academy of Chicago [Annotator's Note: in Chicago, Illinois]. He took his classes in an old medical school building and bunked in a women's club building. He often used the stairs to get to his room on the 14th floor because there was only one elevator. He attended training for four weeks. He was assigned as the gunnery officer aboard LST-781 [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank, the USS LST-781] upon completion of the program with orders sending him to the Pacific. He was sent to Pittsburg [Annotator's Note: Pittsburg, Pennsylvania] to meet his ship. His first job was to find different entertainment supplies to bring on board. He found lots of books from the library and a piano. Although his official role was gunnery officer, the guns would not be installed until they reached New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana]. After the commission, the ship and crew made their trip down to New Orleans. Pratt enjoyed every minute of that journey. The LST was required to stop every night at a river town because they were being guided down by river boat pilots. The different towns often brought down food and music. The townspeople came to meet and greet with the sailors and officers. They eventually arrived in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana].

[Annotator's Note: Audio popping sounds can be heard throughout this segment.] Robert W. "RW" Pratt, assigned as the gunnery officer aboard USS LST-781, arrived in New Orleans [Annotator's Note: New Orleans, Louisiana] after an enjoyable trip down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. He became very busy while in New Orleans because he oversaw the installation of the anti-aircraft and anti-submarine guns on the LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. His ship was often followed by enemy subs, but they were not targeted because they were a small ship and had enough anti-submarine weapons to cause damage. Before the ship set sail for the Pacific, his mother visited him in New Orleans, and she stayed at the Roosevelt [Annotator's Note: The Roosevelt Hotel]. He went to pick his mother up at the hotel, and ran into his high school sweetheart. She had gotten married and was on her honeymoon. He was happy to see her and her new husband. In April 1944, his crew made a quick stop in Shreveport [Annotator's Note: Shreveport, Louisiana] and then set sail for the Pacific. Because the war in the Pacific was going hot, the Navy order them to push onto through the Panama Canal and into Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii]. After a couple of days of loading supplies, they headed overseas to Tinian [Annotator's Note: Tinian, Mariana Islands]. They were not credited for their aid in securing that island. They were very involved and should have received recognition. They continued to make runs with supplies to Tinian to prepare for the B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] air base. Pratt's crews' role in battles were that LCVPs [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat] would release the troops onto the beaches during the invasions, and then two or three days later, when the troops had used up all their supplies, LSTs came into the beaches to resupply with new trucks, gas, ammunition, and weapons. Their greatest threats were snipers. Four LSTs could supply for one Navy air squadron. Pratt was never under intense fire until a couple of days leading up to Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Okinawa, Japan] when his LST was strafed. He was on the bridge when he saw the Japanese plane target their ship.

[Annotator's Note: Audio popping sounds can be heard throughout this segment.] Robert W. "RW" Pratt, [Annotator's Note: assigned as the gunnery officer aboard the USS LST-781] was in Tinian [Annotator's Note: Tinian, Mariana Islands] bringing in supplies for the B-29 [Annotator's Note: Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber] air strips. They took several other missions that landed them in the South Pacific. They headed to New Caledonia where the military had secured several farms. They gathered crops including corn, and other supplies. It was a relaxing part of the war. He was able to go into town and meet the locals. The civilian population welcomed them and gave them dances, food, and drink. He saw girls for the first time in a year. His crew received orders to go to the Gilbert Islands. Because these islands did not have a harbor, they had to anchor at sea. Pratt and his captain rode onto the beaches in the LCVP [Annotator's Note: Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel or LCVP; also known as the Higgins boat] and were given a sealed packet of orders, not to be opened until they were at sea. On the return on the LCVP, the waves were getting bad. They managed to get back on the LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. They opened their orders and found out they needed to head to New Guinea. They were to meet a group of Allies on a specific date and time. They arrived on the beach and found nothing there. The beach was beautiful, and the weather was perfect. A group of New Guinea natives came onto the beach area. They circled the boat and squatted with spears and knives in their hands. After twenty minutes and still no sign of who they were supposed to meet, another group of people came out onto the beach that looked Australian. They had Japanese ears strung around their necks. They loaded themselves up on the deck of the ship without saying a word to anyone and sat quietly. According to their secret orders, they were to take them around the island of New Guinea and into Japanese territory. They were to locate an Aldis lantern [Annotator's Note: a signal lamp, sometimes called an Aldis Lamp, or Morse Lamp] while sailing though the waters which would then guide them to a beach in the middle of the night. When they hit the beach, the Australian men got off the ship and disappeared into the trees. To this day, he still does not know anything about the purpose of the Australian men and what they were doing. He thinks it had to do with the fact that the Australians did not like MacArthur [Annotator's Note: General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area].

Robert W. "RW" Pratt, [Annotator's Note: assigned as the gunnery officer aboard USS LST-781] moved around the South Pacific delivering supplies to various islands secured by the Americans, including New Caledonia and Tawara [Annotator's Note: Tarawa Atoll, Republic of Kiribati]. They reported back to Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands] and then began to prepare for the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945, Okinawa, Japan]. They sailed to some volcanic islands near Okinawa. As soon as they entered the harbor, the ship was strafed. They remained near that island for a day and a half. On 1 April 1945, they pulled out of the island with the rest of the fleet to head for Okinawa. Pratt had never seen so many ships. He saw rows and rows and rows of ships, including the USS Oklahoma (BB-37), the USS Texas (BB-35), carriers, and tankers. The invasion was rough. The night of the invasion, Marines ran onto the beach. The sky was lit up with all sorts of fire power. His LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] was shot at and strafed several times during the battle, and it was possible that some of it was from friendly fire. The night was long, and the Army and Marines received a lot of fire. His crew was ordered to bring a squadron near to the Yontan air strip [Annotator's Note: Yontan Airfield (Japanese name Kita Airfield), Yomitan, Okinawa, Japan]. As they approached the beach, they hit a reef and became stuck. They soon realized that the Marines had not taken that part of the island yet and they would have been killed by the Japanese if they set foot on the island. The Japanese attempted to aerial bomb, but they could not hit his ship. Because they were stuck on the reef, all they could do was witness the carnage on the beaches as the Marines stormed in to reach the air strip. Six Marines made their way out to Pratt's ship and asked if they could have some food. Pratt's crew fed them well and then they headed back to the beach in about an hour. Pratt told the Marines that if there are others that needed food or a shower, they could come aboard as well. They would show up in groups of eight or 10 after that. As the battle ensued, he looked on with his binoculars, watching these guys die. It took several days for the Marines to secure the airstrip. The Army took a beating on Okinawa as well. It took days for the crew to free the LST from the reef. At sunrise on 7 April 1945, all hell broke loose. There were Japanese planes everywhere. The sky was dark and full of flak. He witnessed ships sinking, carriers on fire, and planes going down. The chaos went on and on and on.

Robert W. "RW" Pratt, [Annotator's Note: assigned as the gunnery officer aboard the USS LST-781] was a witness to the invasion of Okinawa [Annotator's Note: Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945, Okinawa, Japan] because his ship got stuck on a reef during the battle. As the days passed, the Marines were able to secure Yontan [Annotator's Note: Yontan Airfield (Japanese name Kita Airfield), Yomitan, Okinawa, Japan] and his LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank] was pulled from the reef. Days later, they came up onto the beach and off-loaded supplies. They were given an escort until they reached safe waters. They made it to a Navy base in Ulithi [Annotator's Note: Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands] they rested while the LST was repaired. They headed to Guam [Annotator's Note: Guam, Mariana Islands] to prepare for the invasion of Japan. Their ship was taken to the shipyard to be retrofitted. They also had their ship reloaded with supplies and equipment like food, refrigerators, ice cream machines, cables, mine cutters, other mine equipment and oil. They headed to Okinawa before the invasion and wait for their orders to ahead. His ships received orders to move forward toward Japan and begin sweeping for mines [Annotator's Note: stationary explosive device triggered by physical contact] before the actual day of the invasion. While on their minesweeping mission, America dropped the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] on Japan. They received orders to sit and wait. America was waiting to see how Japan would respond to the attack. After the second bomb dropped, the Japanese surrendered. Every ship was told to stand down, except LST-781. They continued forward on sweeping for mines in the Japanese waters. A Japanese lieutenant boarded their ship and with a silk map, guided the LST through the minefields. As they move through the Japanese waters, they saw a Japanese enlisted man fishing on a boat. The man waved at Pratt and began to paddle toward the LST. He boarded the ship and told them that they were about to hit a minefield. The Japanese Lieutenant looked on his map and did not see mines in the location the enlistment man was saying. Pratt allowed the enlisted man to stay on board and made the Japanese lieutenant get off. The enlisted man helped the LST get through the minefield safely. He managed to visit and go ashore in Hiroshima [Annotator's Note: Hiroshima, Japan]. There was no sign of anyone or any living thing. He can still remember the smell of the death all around. Right outside of the city, they met a store owner and his family while they were looking for souvenirs. Pratt did not get out of the jeep while they toured Hiroshima. He did not want to step in the dirt.

After the conclusion of World War 2, Robert W. "RW" Pratt, [Annotator's Note: assigned as the gunnery officer aboard USS LST-781] was ordered on minesweeping missions throughout the Japanese waters. Because he was not married, he volunteered to stay on for occupation duty in Japan to let other soldiers go home. While he was in Japan, he enjoyed exploring different areas of the country. The locals were very pleasant, and the Japanese soldiers made sure to always stand clear as American walked through the streets. The people often bowed as the Americans passed them. Pratt returned Houston [Annotator's Note: Houston, Texas] in September 1946 and was discharged as a lieutenant. His dad picked him up in Houston and returned home. One of his friends, Louie [phonetic spelling], from home who was wounded in the war called him up and asked him attend Texas University [Annotator's Note: The University of Texas at Austin, in Austin, Texas] with him. He wore his uniform for a while until he could get some civilian clothes. Pratt registered for law school but decided he did not like the school. He then was readmitted to St. Mary's University [Annotator's Note: St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas] and got a degree in finance and marketing. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to help him pay for his college education. He graduated school in 1948. Pratt remained part of the Reserves, but when he was about to get married, he asked to exit his commission. In 1950, he received a letter that he had been recalled to the Navy to serve in the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953]. He called the branch to tell them that he had retired, but they did not care and told him to report to base in Coronado [Annotator's Note: Naval Base Coronado, west of San Diego, California]. He served state side at the base for two years. He served on the LST-735 [Annotator's Note: USS LST-735] as executive officer. His main duties were to commission ships and train men on how to run an LST [Annotator's Note: Landing Ship, Tank]. He then received orders that he was going overseas to Korea but was plucked from his ship the last minute. He received a new assignment with minesweeping in Long Beach [Annotator's Note: Long Beach, California].

Robert W. "RW" Pratt's most memorable experience was 7 April [Annotator's Note: 7 April 1945, during Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, 1 April to 22 June 1945, Okinawa, Japan]. He fought because he wanted to be free. He fears, today, the younger generation is giving freedom away. World War 2 changed his life tremendously. It taught him to take care of himself. He was taught there were proper ways to live in society. He was taught how to treat people well. The service made him what he is. The war allowed him to think logically and read more. He believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and they should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations because without history, you lose your culture.