During their final weekly meeting before Memorial Day, the Charleston Rotary Club fittingly paid tribute to a World War II hero on May 25.
Edgar Raymond “Ray” Prigmore Jr. was celebrated as a posthumous recipient of Rotary’s prestigious Paul Harris Fellow award.
Family members of Mr. Prigmore, a native and lifelong resident of Charleston who died Jan. 30, 1996, at the age of 72, were on hand to receive the certificate and gold pin that traditionally go to the Paul Harris Fellow honoree.
Mr. Prigmore had been sponsored for the Rotary award by state Rep. Tommy Reynolds of Charleston, state Sen. Lydia Chassaniol of Winona and state Supreme Court Justice James W. Kitchens of Crystal Springs.
Both Chassaniol and Kitchens are second cousins of Mr. Prigmore, a U.S. Air Force pilot who in 1945 was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross — an award given for “heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight.”
Kitchens spoke to Charleston Rotarians and guests last week about his late cousin and the military service for which he was being remembered.
A member of the 410th Bombardment Squadron, Mr. Prigmore piloted a B-17 bomber — one of the aircraft that earned the nickname of “Flying Fortress.”
“It was the ultimate bomber at the beginning of World War II, the best bomber that anybody had,” Kitchens said.
Reading from an account printed in the Jan. 30, 1945, Memphis Commercial Appeal, the justice recalled one particular bombing run over Germany that led to Mr. Prigmore’s military decoration.
The opening paragraph of that article states, “For bringing his crippled Fortress, flying on one engine, to a perfect crash-landing on a Belgian turnip patch, thereby saving the life of his wounded co-pilot who was unable to bail out, Second Lieut. Edgar R. Prigmore of Charleston, Miss., has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.”
Kitchens surmises that this particular incident probably occurred “in late 1944 or early 1945” — perilous days in that area of the world.
“What happened in Belgium in December 1944 and January 1945?” he asked Rotarians. “The Battle of the Bulge. So the Germans had not long been driven out of Belgium, and maybe were not entirely out of the country at the time of this event.”
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive, a last-ditch effort to break through the Allied lines and turn the tide of the war. It failed, but not without great loss of life on both sides.
“These were very difficult times,” said Kitchens.
American fliers met stiff resistance while carrying out bombing missions against the German homeland.
During the run highlighted in The Commercial Appeal story, antiaircraft fire had knocked out all but one engine of Mr. Prigmore’s B-17 while the bomber was over its target, and “it was unable to stay in formation.”
Mr. Prigmore, aided by a couple of P-38 Mustang fighter planes that were escorting the bombers, was able to break off and follow them back into adjacent Belgium.
“Ray didn’t know whether he was landing in occupied territory or not when he brought this plane down,” said Kitchens.
The Commercial Appeal offers the rest of the story as the crippled plane prepares to belly-land in a farm field:
“The rain was pouring down, visibility was poor, and the ship was in bad shape, so Lieutenant Prigmore ordered the crew to parachute — all but the co-pilot. As for himself, it never occurred to him that he might bail out. He knew he had to bring his comrade down to earth safely, and that’s just what he did. Lieutenant Prigmore, 21, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. E.R. Prigmore of Charleston.”
As it turned out, the plane landed in a friendly zone, and all of the crew from the aircraft reportedly “walked away” and returned for several more missions together.
Kitchens said although Mr. Prigmore “was not ever one to talk about any of this,” adding, “I never heard him say one word about World War II,” he recalls hearing during some of the family visits that Mr. Prigmore actually performed a similarly heroic wartime flying act on a second occasion.
“This was not the only time that he safely manned a shot-up plane, and both times there were men on the plane who were unable to bail out,” Kitchens noted.
Mr. Prigmore, Kitchens said, returned to Charleston after the war and went back to work for his parents in their Superba Theatre, a movie house located on South Court Square, where Charleston City Hall now stands.
Later, he opened Ra-Ja Drive-In, a drive-in movie theater named for Ray and his wife, Janice Moseley Prigmore. That theater was located east of Charleston on Highway 32, near the present-day site of Mitchell’s salvage yard.
In final words, Kitchens expressed appreciation to the Charleston Rotary crowd for allowing him the opportunity “to honor this man our family is so very proud of.”
IN THE PHOTO: From left, family members of the late Ray Prigmore (black-and-white inset photo, from The Commercial Appeal), including daughter-in-law Tracy Prigmore, daughter Jerri Prigmore and son Eddie Prigmore, accept Charleston Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow credentials on his behalf from state Rep. Tommy Reynolds, state Sen. Lydia Chassaniol and Mississippi Supreme Court Justice James W. Kitchens. Chassaniol and Kitchens are related to the Prigmore family, who received a special certificate and gold pin as mementos of the Rotary honor given posthumously to the World War II Air Force hero. (Photo by John Ball Burnett)
