Luther McBee ‘Mac’ Lawrence was born on December 21, 1924 in Colerain, North Carolina, the 2nd child and oldest son of Anna ‘Annie’ Perry and Luther C. ‘L.C.’ Lawrence. He had an older sister, Edith ‘Christine,’ a younger brother, Harald ‘Harrell,’ and 2 younger sisters, Margaret and Jane. Luther and his siblings were raised on their parents’ farm in Bertie County, North Carolina. Their father was a self-employed farmer and their mother stayed at home.

In 1942, Luther graduated from Central High School in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Before joining the military, he completed 1 year of college at North Carolina State College in Raleigh, North Carolina and worked as a semiskilled welder/flamecutter.

Less than 4 months after his 19th birthday, Luther enlisted in the Army on March 30, 1943 at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and began “active duty” on April 6, 1943. He served with Company B of the 264th Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division. Luther’s sister, Edith ‘Christine’ Lawrence, also served in the Army during WWII.

On December 24, 1944, the SS Leopoldville, which Luther was aboard, was sunk by a German submarine. He was hospitalized but died that day or the following day (December 24 or 25, 1944); Luther had turned 23 less than 1 week earlier (December 21, 1944).

The 66th Infantry Division’s website gives the following summary of the sinking, which has been the subject of multiple books and documentaries:

“On the day of the attack, the Léopoldville was carrying reinforcements from the 262nd and 264th Regiments, 66th Infantry Division of the United States Army towards the Battle of the Bulge. While in the English Channel on 24 December 1944, approximately five miles from the coast of Cherbourg, the convoy was attacked by U-486 and at 17.54 hours the Léopoldvillewas hit by one of two torpedoes fired from the U-boat. She finally sank by the stern at 20.40 hours. Of the 2,235 American servicemen on board, approximately 515 are presumed to have gone down with the ship. Another 248 died from injuries, drowning, or hypothermia. Captain Charles Limbor, one Belgian and three Congolese crewmembers also went down with the ship. An unknown number of British soldiers died. Documents about the attack remained classified until 1996. One of the escort destroyers, HMS Brilliant, came alongside the stricken vessel. Soldiers on the Léopoldville jumped down onto the smaller Brilliant. The destroyer could take only a few hundred of the men and headed for the shore. No further rescue attempt was made, and some 1,200 men were left aboard. USS PC-1225 also rescued survivors. The Léopoldville stayed afloat for two and a half hours after the torpedo hit before finally sinking, stern first.”

Luther was buried at Normandy American Cemetery in France. His name is listed on a memorial at Fort Benning in Georgia.

In 1945, Luther was posthumously awarded the Soldier’s Medal “in military exercises in Riddick Stadium” at his former college (North Carolina State College in Raleigh, North Carolina) in a ceremony attended by multiple of his relatives, following a “military parade of [North Carolina] State College students.” The medal was given to Luther’s father. “Col. Douglas N. McMillan, commanding officer of the [North Carolina] State College Department of Military Science and Tactics, represented the War Department in the reading of the citation and the presentation of the medal. The citation reads as follows: ‘“For heroism on 24 December 1944 in the English Channel near Cherbourg, France. After the troopship on which he was traveling had been rocked by an explosion, Sergeant Lawrence voluntarily proceeded to a damaged compartment and assisted in the evacuation of the wounded. Later, although then in the comparative safety of an open deck, Sergeant Lawrence, with utter disregard for his safety, forsook his opportunity to board a rescue vessel and descended to the hold of the ship to render further assistance to those trapped below. Sergeant Lawrence was last observed going below. His courageous devotion to his fellowmen at the cost of his own life was an inspiration to all and reflects the highest credit upon himself and the military service.”

He was survived by his parents, 3 sisters, Edith ‘Christine’ Lawrence, Margaret Lawrence and Jane Lawrence, and brother, Harald ‘Harrell’ Lawrence, as well as multiple aunts, uncles and cousins. Luther was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Annie Daniel Perry and Thaddeus ‘Thad’ Perry, paternal grandparents, Maggie ‘Betty’ Perry Lawrence and James ‘Jim’ Lawrence, and multiple cousins.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there is now a smart phone app (Find a Grave) that allows people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen's name and read his/her story. If you have suggestions to improve this story, please contact me through Fold3 at across1225@gmail.com.

Sources:

1900 United States Federal Census
1910 United States Federal Census
1920 United States Federal Census
1930 United States Federal Census
1940 United States Federal Census
1950 United States Federal Census
North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976
North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011
North Carolina, U.S., Birth Indexes, 1800-2000
U.S., World War II and Korean Conflict Veterans Interred Overseas
North Carolina, U.S., Deaths, 1906-1930
Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014
North Carolina, Death Indexes, 1908-2004
U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1945
U.S., Headstone and Interment Records for U.S. Military Cemeteries on Foreign Soil, 1942-1949
U.S. Rosters of World War II Dead, 1939-1945
U.S., World War II Hospital Admission Card Files, 1942-1954
North Carolina, U.S., Discharge and Statement of Service Records, 1940-1948
U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990
U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-2016
The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), 1 Sep 1940
The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), 18 Aug 1945
The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), 19 Aug 1945
The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), 3 Aug 1979
The News and Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina), 19 Mar 2006
Leopoldville Troopship Disaster
66th Infantry Division
Uboat.net

Luther M Lawrence