Willard James Lawrence

Military
media-25674.jpeg UPL 25674 Lt. Colonel Willard Lawrence

Timothy Motz from an obituary photo at http://www.porterloring.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1491771

Object Number - UPL 25674 - Lt. Colonel Willard Lawrence

Willard Lawrence was born on Jul. 12, 1921 in Jamestown, North Dakota, USA. His career included thirty years active duty in the United States Air Force, serving in three wars (WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War) as a pilot and later as a comptroller, he retired in 1972 as a Lt. Colonel.

Among his many medals are the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with 6 oak leaf clusters.

He died on Jan. 2, 2015 in San Antonio, Texas, USA and is buried at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery.
See more at: http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Lawrence&GSfn=Willard…;

Connections

See how this entry relates to other items in the archive by exploring the connections below.

Units served with

The insignia of the 447th Bomb Group.

447th Bomb Group

  • Unit Hierarchy: Group
  • Air Force: Eighth Air Force
  • Type Category: Bombardment

People

Warren Mason Callahan

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Co-Pilot

Thomas Charles (?) Diamond

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 35652655
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
  • Role/Job: Top Turret Gunner

Oscar G Flores

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant (2nd Grade)
  • Role/Job: Waist Gunner

Otto Henry Moreland

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: 37536427
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Lower Ball Turret Gunner/Waist Gunner

Harold A Motz

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Service Numbers: O-717475
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Role/Job: Navigator

Aircraft

42-102632

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Due Back
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron

42-102658

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Blanco Diablo
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron

42-107220

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Swanee Pride

42-31095

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Ground Pounder
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron

42-31154

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Shack Happy
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron

Missions

688

  • Date: 25 October 1944

682

  • Date: 18 October 1944

681

  • Date: 17 October 1944
The flak damaged nose of a B-17 Flying Fortress of the 398th Bomb Group. Printed caption on reverse: '54600 AC- England- 1st lt Lawrence M De Lancey, Corvallis, Oregon, landed this B-17 safely after its nose was literally shot away by flak over Cologne, Germany. Please Credit: Official US Air Force Photo.' Printed caption on image: 'This B-17 landed safely after losing its nose to flak. US AAF Photo.' Handwritten caption on reverse: '43-38172 of 398th BG.'

678

  • Date: 15 October 1944

677

  • Date: 14 October 1944

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

Jamestown, ND, USA 12 July 1921

Died

San Antonio, TX, USA 2 January 2015

Revisions

Date25 Apr 2021 02:27:05
Contributorjprakop
ChangesChanges to highest rank and role
Sources

Edited by granddaughter

Date6 Mar 2017 21:47:32
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to mission associations
Sources

Timothy Motz, from 447th loading lists

Date6 Mar 2017 21:44:35
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to mission associations
Sources

Timothy Motz, from 447th loading lists

Date2 Feb 2017 22:22:51
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to mission associations
Sources

Timothy Motz; from a list kept by Harold Motz and compared to Doyle Shields, "History of the 447th Bomb Group."

Date2 Feb 2017 22:08:42
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to aircraft associations
Sources

Timothy Motz; from list kept by Harold Motz, compared to Doyl Shields, "History of the 447th Bomb Group"

Date2 Feb 2017 22:03:52
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to unit associations and place associations
Sources

Timothy Motz

Date2 Feb 2017 18:37:17
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to highest rank
Sources

correction to rank in 1944 by Timothy Motz

Date15 Jan 2017 21:45:26
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to middlename
Sources

middle name corrected by Timothy Motz

Date10 Jan 2017 11:54:01
ContributorLucy May
ChangesChanges to biography and events
Sources

Additional source: http://www.porterloring.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1491771

Date4 Jan 2017 22:37:38
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to highest rank
Sources

Timothy Motz from findagrave.com

Date4 Jan 2017 22:33:07
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to biography
Sources

Timothy Motz from findagrave.com

Date13 Oct 2016 22:58:17
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to nickname and role
Sources

Timothy Motz, from notes on a crew photo from Harold Motz, 2016

Date13 May 2016 18:03:10
Contributortimothymotz
ChangesChanges to media associations
Sources

Timothy Motz from crew photo of Harold Motz

Date27 Sep 2014 18:27:27
ContributorAAM
ChangesAAM ingest
Sources

Drawn from the records of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force, Savannah, Georgia / Unit History Roster as of 01 August 1945

Willard James Lawrence: Gallery (37 items)