Earl Prauman was a member of the New Hampshire National Guard. His National Guard unit was called into full time active Army service on February 24, 1941, prior to the war. Earl served as a S/SGT on an M-10 Tank Destroyer with C Company of 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion. On September 13, 1944, he was on a tank located near the village of Saulx in Haute-Saone (France) with a crew of five when it was hit by a gun (someone said an 88). The tank was destroyed and burned. The whole crew (S/Sgt Earl L Prauman, Sgt James C Childers, Cpl William B Brown, PFC Richard C Corthell and TEC 4 Joseph Thomas) died. Earl L Prauman, Sgt James C Childers, Cpl William B Brown, PFC Richard C Corthell are buried together at Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, KY. Joseph Thomas is buried at Epinal Cemetery in France.