Chaplain Prudell

Harold Prudell was born on August 1^st, 1912, to an American military family stationed at Fort Mills on the island of Corregidor, Philippines. When Harold was young, Captain Joseph and his wife Marie Prudell relocated their family, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he was assigned to run the Soldier’s Home, currently known as Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Wood, Wisconsin.

After graduating from Marquette University High School, an all-male Jesuit Roman Catholic school, in Milwaukee, Harold enrolled at St. Francis De Sales Seminary in 1931. During his eight years as a seminarian, he attended various Citizens’ Military Training Camps at Fort Sheridan. By the time he graduated and was ordained as a priest on June 3^rd, 1939, Harold had mastered German, Italian and French. Harold was a reserve infantry officer, and in 1934 he received his first commission as second lieutenant attached to the 401^st Infantry of Wisconsin and promoted to first lieutenant in December 1937. Harold transferred to the Army’s Chaplain Corps Reserve eight days after his ordination. His first pastoral assignment was to St. Robert Parish in Shorewood, WI, as assistant priest.

Father Prudell, at age 28, next sought and received Army permission to serve on active duty, and his initial posting was chaplain in the 5^th Infantry Division, he shipped out on August 12^th, 1940, attached to the 19^th Field Artillery. He was the youngest chaplain to serve in the Army. The following year in January he moved to Fort Custer Michigan and in 1942 was promoted to the rank of captain.

Chaplain Prudell served for the next 23 months as regimental chaplain while the unit was stationed in Iceland. He then spent 10 further months in Northern Ireland before arriving in England just 30 hours after the launch of D-Day, which took place on June 6^th, 1944. He spent the last 10 months of World War II with troops at the Battle of the Bulge, much of this time was spent in Ettelbruck and other nearby towns in Luxembourg. He celebrated Mass in the kitchen storage area located in the basement of the Ettelbruck psychiatric hospital. He tended to the wounded both physically and spiritually. He frequently went to the front lines, providing encouragement to the soldiers preparing for battle.

Chaplain Prudell was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries he received when a German artillery shell struck near an encampment on the frontline. His other distinctions include: the Croix de Guerre, for helping save the lives of four men in France, a Bronze Star for valor in combat, two Army Distinguished Service Medals and five European Campaign Medals.

In 1954, Prudell was the Deputy to the President of the US Chaplain Army Board. Chaplain Prudell was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on October 2^nd, 1954, and further promoted to full Colonel on October 22^nd, 1958. He was appointed Domestic Prelate to His Holiness Pope Paul VI on July 16, 1965.

Chaplain Prudell served in three wars: World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He retired after 32 years of military service as an Army Chaplain. In addition to the medals earned in World War II he received medals for six combat engagements in Korea and three in Vietnam where he oversaw seven hundred Army chaplains of all faiths and denominations.

Father Prudell returned to St. Robert Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1974 where he served as the parish priest until his retirement in 1981. He died May 16^th, 1999, and his funeral was held at St. Robert Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.