WWII Vet Claimed He Was ‘Just in the Band,’ Then Family Checked His Medals

The family of a World War II veteran has learned more about him after his great-grandson reached out to the internet for help.

Leonard Lawson never met his great-grandfather Leonard Fredrick Pryor, who died aged just 49, but told Newsweek that “by all accounts he was a kind and caring man” who is “loved and missed by all that knew him.”

And Lawson has an unbreakable connection to his great-grandfather: he was named after him and, as his namesake, eventually received Pryor’s medals and uniform.

Pryor enlisted in the infantry branch of the military in Springfield, Illinois, in March 1941, before the United States entered WWII, Lawson told Newsweek. “On his enlistment papers, he listed his civil occupation as ‘musicians and teachers of music.'”

When asked about his time in the war by other family members, Pryor had always told them “he was just in the band”—but when Lawson shared a photo to Reddit of Pryor’s uniform, along with the myriad medals he had received, he learned much more about what his ancestor had achieved.

In the post shared to r/Medals on February 25, which has received over 45,000 upvotes, Lawson wrote via his account u/Sea-Neighborhood1465: “Great grandpa always told the family ‘he was just in the band’. WW2 Pacific Theater. Interested in what y’all think.”

Lawson received more information than he had ever dreamed of, as experts were able to point to the specific medals and stripes on the uniform and explain what they meant.

“Even though he definitely played an instrument as part of his service, having both a Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB) and Bronze Star Medal show he was part of much more,” Lawson said. “The CIB signifies that he was in combat. The Bronze Star means he did something honorable, above and beyond the standard call of duty.”

Through his research, he discovered his great-grandfather may have been reassigned from the 130th to the 129th Infantry Regiment and was sent as part of a task force to the Pacific Theater and assigned to the 37th Infantry Division.

He would have been part of campaigns in Bougainville, the Lingayen Gulf and Manila, and the city of Baguio in the Philippines, headquarters of Japanese Commanding General and convicted war criminal Tomoyuki Yamashita.

“The red ribbon with blue/white under the eagle on his jacket was issued to all soldiers that helped to liberate the Philippines. So we know he was there,” Lawson said. “In total, the unit spent 592 days in combat, enduring over 1000 KIA [killed in action] and nearly 5,000 WIA [wounded in action].

“The fact grandpa has four overseas service stripes means he was likely there for all of it,” he added. “You get one for every six months spent on combat deployment.”

With the help of Reddit users, Lawson has learned what each of Pryor’s medals are: the Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, The American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal, along with the CIB and Bronze Star Medal.

The U.S. military offers a vast array of medals as awards for service. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the highest military award for valor is the Medal of Honor, presented by the president to service members who distinguish themselves “through conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.”

Upon returning home from the war, Pryor resettled in Illinois and his home in the village of Butler is still in the family. He is buried in a small cemetery in southern Illinois, alongside his wife and daughter, Lawson said.

Pryor’s medals were “always in his home in Butler and were passed to me a few years ago, as his namesake,” Lawson said.

His Reddit post received thousands of comments, many helping him learn about his great-grandfather’s medals while others shared their own stories.

“My Grandfather was also in an Army band in the Pacific during WW2 and also was in the Philippines. I wonder if they knew each other,” one user commented.

Another Redditor, who identified himself as an Iraq War veteran, said he also avoided telling his mother the truth about his role in the conflict. “I would tell her I was working in the motor pool, or setting up equipment or something. I love her, I didn’t want to hurt her by saying what I was really doing. It’s kinda supporting to see that men in other wars sometimes did the same,” he wrote.

Other users revealed they tried to protect family members this way, too. “I told my mom I was working on computers. I was a combat engineer. I mean there was electronics involved technically,” one wrote, and another said: “I lied my ass off to my family.”