Group photo D/329

2nd Lt Alfred R. Lawrence

Second Lieutenant
Alfred R. Lawrence

Second Lieutenant Alfred R. Lawrence

Alfred Ray 'Al' Lawrence was born on April 3, 1921 in Chattanooga, Oklahoma.

Alfred 'Al' Lawrence was with the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Oklahoma A&M college from September 1940 to April 5, 1943. Simultaneously he also served as a Private in the enlisted reserve corps with the 1875th Service unit from July 1942 until he was inducted and called to active duty on April 6, 1943. A few days later he reported at Fort Sill, Lawton, Oklahoma. After a month he was assigned to Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia. On September 17, 1943 he discharged from OCS with the rank of corporal to accept the appointment as an officer. He then received his 2nd Lieutenant bar on September 18. He was assigned to D Company, 329th Infantry Regiment as the Platoon Leader for the 81mm mortar platoon. He served with this unit in the ETO and landed on Omaha Beach on June 18, 1944. On July 11, 1944 he was wounded in action near Sainteny for which he received a Purple Heart Medal on August 20, 1944. For his service he was awarded with the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal with OLC, the Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one silver campaign star and the World War Two Victory Medal.

Alfred Lawrence maried on October 21, 1945 with Irene Wilson in the home of Mont and Lorraine Davis in Little, Oklahoma. At the time of his marriage, he was stationed at the Beaumont General Hospital in El Paso, where he was brought after being wounded in Germany. After 6 years of service, Alfred Lawrence was honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas in September 1946.

Alfred Lawrence died on November 13, 2000. He was survived by his wife Irene Lawrence (1924-2001). They are buried at the Rush Springs Cemetery, Rush Springs, Oklahoma, where they lived from 1948.