Allen Franklin Lawrence, Infantry/Army

ALLEN FRANKLIN LA WHENCE BORN AUGUST 15, 1924

Inducted into military service on July 7, 1943, Allen Lawrence reported for active duty on July 21 at age 18. He initially trained as an infantryman at Camp Wolters, near Mineral Wells, Texas. While there he received the expert rifle medal in September 1943. Early in 1944 he transferred to the Medical Corps and began preparation as a surgical technician at Lawson General Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Upon completion of training, the Fourth Service Command assigned him to Army Service Forces Regional Hospital in Fort Jackson, South Carolina for further experience as a surgical technician.

After this time in South Carolina the army sent PFC Lawrence to Camp Bowie near Brownwood, Texas where he was assigned to the 444th Medical Collecting Company. While there his company prepared for mobilization to the Pacific Theater of Operations. In March of 1945 he departed from Fort Lewis, Washington by naval transport to Okinawa. There he served as a Technician Fifth Grade with a mobilized surgical unit attached to the Sixth Marine Division until the end of the war with Japan on August 15, 1945, his 21st birthday. The field unit was then demobilized and Tech 5 Lawrence began work with the 156th Station Hospital until his honorable discharge from service on March 15, 1946. Service ribbons awarded to him included Good Conduct Medal, American Theater Ribbon, Asiatic Pacific Ribbon with one bronze star and the Victory Ribbon.

Later while a student at the University of Oklahoma, Mr. Lawrence received a direct commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force. As a reserve officer his area of specialization was in military finance. He received an MBA degree from the university upon the completion of his studies there in 1952. Immediately after graduation he began his fifty year career in public accounting with Arthur Andersen & Co. in Dallas and New York City. He and his wife Charlene married in 1956 and have five grown children, all graduates of Baylor University and actively involved in their careers. Their grandchildren total a dozen. Allen Lawrence is truly a distinguished member of the Greatest Generation.