Served in the US Marines from 1945 - 1949
Last rank: Sergeant (1948)

In February of 1945, Larry enlisted in the US Marine Corps when he was 17, just as his father had done when he was 17. When Larry signed up, World War II was still going on both in Europe and the Pacific theater.  Of course no one knew the war would end on August 14 of that year, when the Japanese signed surrender documents after the US atomic bombings of Japan. The war in Europe officially ended on May 8, 1945 when the Germans surrendered the day before, and that day is celebrated as VE (Victory in Europe) Day both in the US and the UK.

Larry's mother, brother and two sisters were not too happy that he joined the military. Larry signed up only 11 months after his father had passed away, due to severe heart disease from contracting malaria while serving as a Marine in Haiti.  It is very understandable that with his mother still having two young children (about 6 and 8 years old) to raise alone, that the family felt he should stay home.

But Larry was determined to join the Marines, and he officially entered into active service on February 15, 1945. He was assigned to the 1st Marine Division, and completed weapons training in machine guns to be assigned as a Shore Duty Man. When the US entered WW II, the Marines were always the first to land in the Pacific Theater campaigns, and often suffered heavy casualties.

Starting in mid-September of 1944, just a few months before Larry enlisted, the worst of these shore landings occurred.  It was an attempt to take over the only 6 mile long island of Peleliu, 2000 miles away from Japan.  It extracted a terrible toll on the 1st Marines landing party. Although their commander was certain they would capture the island in a day or two, the 1st Marines regiment suffered 1,749 casualties, about 60% of the regiment, in just the first few days of fighting. Even with many more troops sent into the battle, and the addition of intense air support, the U.S. did not capture this small island until November 24th of 1944, after a long and hellish month and a half -- in 110-115 degree conditions.

After completing his weapons training, Larry was in the Pacific theater, training and preparing for the beach landings on two Japanese islands that were being planned by President Truman and General Marshall.  Marshall told Truman he estimated that US casualties in attacks on just those two islands could range from 250,000 to one million men. Due to a host of issues, the dates for the invasions of these islands had to be greatly delayed until December 1, 1945 for the island of Kyushu, and until March 1, 1946 for Honshu, giving the Japanese even more time to hone their defenses

Larry would have definitely been one of the 1st Marine Division Shore Party men to take part in those very dangerous Japanese island beach landings, had the US not dropped the atomic bombs in Japan on August 6th and 9th, that resulted in their surrender just 5 days later on August 14th, 1945.

After the end of World War II, Larry went on to serve for two years in China. Following Japan's surrender, the First Division was sent to Northern China as the lead combat element of the III Amphibious Corps, with the primary mission of repatriating more than 650,000 Japanese soldiers and civilians still resident in that part of China. They landed at Taku on September 30, 1945 and were based in the cities of Tientsin and Peiping, and also on the Shandong Peninsula, with the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party raging around them. Like most of the Marines in his division, Larry's basic duties were to guard supply trains, bridges and depots in order to keep food and coal moving into the cities.

After serving in China for two years, Larry returned to Camp Pendleton in California, in September of 1947.

It was not until writing this history for his memorial page and going through his military papers that I realized in January of 1948, at only 20 years of age, after just 3 years of service, that Larry was promoted from Private (E-1) up to Sergeant (E-5).  The position of Sergeant was the highest of the two Non-Commissioned Officer rankings in the Marine Corps.  This promotion was based on a Marine Corps-wide Composite Score competition, and there were a limited number of openings available.

Larry received an honorable discharge, a certificate of honorable and satisfactory service in World War II, and was discharged after 4 years of service, in February of 1949. Larry had seriously considered staying in the Marine Corps (which I am glad he did not do, considering the Korean War was just around the corner), but ultimately decided not to stay.

Larry (Lawrence) Lauderback was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania on August 24, 1927, the second child of Lawrence James (Jimmy) Lauderback (born in 1901) and his wife, Gladys (formerly Busch, born in 1899). Larry's older sister Lois was born just a little over a year before him, in 1926. Almost a decade after Larry's birth, his brother Thomas was born in 1936, and his sister Alice was born in 1939.

The family moved from Pennsylvania to Detroit in 1936 during the Great Depression, just before Thomas was born. Larry was 9 years old when they made the move, and attended St. Rose of Lima Catholic School through the 8th grade. He went to St. Anthony High School, but quit after the 9th grade, and worked from age 14-17 at Bill's Hardware Store nearby. He later got his GED, and while working full time in his 20's, took technical classes at night for a few years.

Larry's father, Lawrence James, had joined the US Marine Corps in 1918 at age 17, and participated in the US occupation of Haiti where he contracted malaria. That caused him to develop severe heart valve disease at a young age, which resulted in his death in March of 1944, at the age of 42. Larry was only 16 when his father passed, and just 7 months later in October his grandfather Charles died.

When Larry's father passed away, his sister Lois was 17, he was 16, his little brother Tom was 7 years old, and Alice was barely 5. His mother Gladys faced incredible challenges being widowed with 4 children, especially with Alice and Tom being so young.

Larry's mother Gladys started working as a telephone operator when she was 16 years old in about 1915, which she continued to do for about 10 years before she got married in 1925 at the age of 26. And during that time she worked in big cities, like Pittsburgh and Cleveland.  (Sounds so modern!) During World War II, with two young children and two teenagers, Gladys worked at Briggs Manufacturing, where she operated a very large press in the building of tanks for the war effort. She was the rock of the family, and adored by all the extended family that followed. Even though she developed serious diabetes in her 60's, we were very fortunate to have her with us until she was 93, when she passed away in 1993.

The next chapter will talk about Larry's service in the US Marine Corps from age 17-21, from 1945 until 1949.