HARRY A. PRIBBLE, CAPT, USMC

Harry Pribble '52

Date of birth: December 6, 1929

Date of death: June 26, 1958

Age: 28

Lucky Bag

From the 1952 Lucky Bag:

Harry Allan Pribble

Monroe, Louisiana

After breaking in his second pair of shoes, the first being given to him for his trip to the Academy, our southern boy became well adapted to military life. Always active and a good competitor, Harry could be found in the gym or on the athletic field any evening. His strong character and friendliness made him a good man to have around. We came close to losing Harry after plebe year; not through academics, for he was plenty savvy, but via an international obligation. While on cruise in England he met a bonnie Scottish lass who stole his heart. Not wishing to leave his heart alone, he contemplated his whole person. But serious thinking and the Navy changed his mind.

He was also a member of the 1st Regimental Staff (1st set).

Harry Allan Pribble

Monroe, Louisiana

After breaking in his second pair of shoes, the first being given to him for his trip to the Academy, our southern boy became well adapted to military life. Always active and a good competitor, Harry could be found in the gym or on the athletic field any evening. His strong character and friendliness made him a good man to have around. We came close to losing Harry after plebe year; not through academics, for he was plenty savvy, but via an international obligation. While on cruise in England he met a bonnie Scottish lass who stole his heart. Not wishing to leave his heart alone, he contemplated his whole person. But serious thinking and the Navy changed his mind.

He was also a member of the 1st Regimental Staff (1st set).

Loss

Harry was lost on June 26, 1958 when the F4D he was piloting crashed near Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina.

Other Information

From the October 1958 issue of Shipmate:

Once again it is my sad duty to report the death of a classmate and close personal friend, Capt. HARRY PRIBBLE, USMC. The F4D which he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff on 28 June 1958 at the Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, N. C. Harry's wife Clarada and four children (Karen, 5; Gwen, 2 1/2; Janis, 1 1/2; Robert Scott, 6 mos.) are living with Clarada's parents…

From researcher Kathy Franz:

In the fall of 1945 and 1946, Harry played tackle on the high school football team. He captained the team on homecoming night October 25, 1946, and escorted the queen and her court onto the field. That year's team set regular season offensive and defensive records scoring 262 points and limiting the opposition to 19 while winning seven and losing one.
In January 1946, Harry played a country cousin in the high school musical comedy “Pep Parade.” In spring 1947, he was the timer for the basketball team.
Harry also participated in Glee Club and Commercial Club and graduated from Neville High School in 1947.
He played for the Sears, Roebuck baseball team in the Monroe Recreation League in August 1946.
In January 1948, Harry, who was the team coach for the Sherrouse Grammar School football team handed out the winning letters. An 11-year-old girl, who was ineligible to play, won a letter as she “never missed a practice and held down her position in the line in daily scrimmages.”

He was survived by his four children and wife, who passed away in 2012. She is buried next to him in Arlington National Cemetery.

His older brother, Robert, was killed in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Initially buried in common graves with over four hundred of his shipmates from USS Oklahoma (BB 37), his remains were identified February 2017.

Harry was a member of Marine All Weather Fighter Squadron (VMF(AW)) 114. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Photographs

From the Monroe Morning World on August 19, 1951
From his high school yearbook
From his high school yearbook
From the Monroe Morning World on November 3, 1946. Harry (center) is photographed with Co-Captain J. W. Jackson and homecoming queen Polly Jean Phelps.