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

People

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

  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Due Back
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Blanco Diablo
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Swanee Pride
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Ground Pounder
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron
  • Aircraft Type: B-17 Flying Fortress
  • Nicknames: Shack Happy
  • Unit: 447th Bomb Group 708th Bomb Squadron

Missions

  • Date: 25 October 1944
  • Date: 18 October 1944
  • 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.'
  • Date: 15 October 1944
  • Date: 14 October 1944

Places

Events

Event Location Date Description

Born

12 July 1921

Died

2 January 2015

Revisions

Date
Contributorjmoore43
Changes
Sources

Added " / " in the "Role/job" field as a separator to aid readability.

Date
Contributorjprakop
Changes
Sources

Edited by granddaughter

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

Timothy Motz, from 447th loading lists

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

Timothy Motz, from 447th loading lists

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

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

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

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

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

Timothy Motz

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

correction to rank in 1944 by Timothy Motz

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

middle name corrected by Timothy Motz

Date
ContributorLucy May
Changes
Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

Timothy Motz from findagrave.com

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

Timothy Motz from findagrave.com

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

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

Date
Contributortimothymotz
Changes
Sources

Timothy Motz from crew photo of Harold Motz

Date
ContributorAAM
Changes
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 (36 items)