Lawrence E. House

Retired Chief Master Sergeant Lawrence House came from very humble beginnings but it wouldn’t be long before he became a part of the Greatest Generation. He was born in Winder, Georgia in 1925, not long before The Great Depression started. Lawrence got his name from his father and a Great Uncle who was a 1st Lt in the Confederate States Army and who was killed during the Civil War during the Siege of Knoxville Tennessee. Lawrence’s family was poor sharecroppers, they were cotton farmers. There was no tractor, only a mule, a plow and 80 acres. Lawrence had 4 sisters and 5 brothers and Lawrence was the 4th oldest. Lawrence said they didn’t really know how poor they were because everyone else was is the same situation. You hear stories of how children of that time had to walk 5 miles to school everyday. Lawrence made that same 5 mile walk everyday only after tending to all of the animals and grabbing a couple of biscuits & country ham for his lunch.

In June of 1942 after finishing up the 10th grade, Lawrence like every other red blooded young American boy was ready, willing and able to avenge the attack on Pearl Harbor that had happened only 7 months earlier. At 16 years old Lawrence tried to join the Army but the Army said he was to young, he had to be 17 years old to join the Army. So Lawrence, not wanting to wait another 6 months, found a willing partner in the Merchant Marines, a Liberty Ship and off to war he went dodging German U-Boats for the next four years. In June of 1946 Lawrence joined the Army Air Corp that later became the United States Air Force and his home for the next 30 years. During that span Lawrence fought in two other wars, Korea in 1952 and Viet Nam in 1966 and 1972. Lawrence said one of the high lights of his military career was when he landed on the aircraft carrier, the USS America, in the Gulf of Tonkin in North Viet Nam waters, to spend 3 days with his son who was in the Navy.

Lawrence met his bride Edna Phillips, a Registered Nurse, in San Antonio when he was a young Airman. They were married in Sequin in 1950. Lawrence decided to retire in Austin so Edna could be closer to her family (Jourdanton Texas) after being away from them for 30 years. And to be close to a University because he had three daughters who were starting or close to starting college. Lawrence retired from the Air Force in 1976 after a total of 34 years service to his country. He spent the next 2 years attending Southwest Texas University, getting his degree in Business Administration and graduating with honors. Lawrence was the first member of his family to graduate from college.

Not long after graduating from Southwest Texas, Lawrence went to work for the Sheriff’s Department in Travis County attaining the rank of Captain. After permanently retiring Lawrence spent much of his time traveling, hunting and fishing with his friends, sons in law and his grandchildren. Lawrence was a proud member of the Retired Chiefs of Austin Association. He always tried to manage his schedule so he wouldn’t have to miss a meeting or event. Lawrence was also a member of the Bannockburn Baptist Church. When the unfortunate time came to make a decision because Lawrence needed more personal assistance, he was asked why he would want to stay at the Kerrville Texas VA Nursing Home. Lawrence simply replied, “I want to be with the men.”

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Mustard Seed Global Fellowship PO Box 1375 Joplain, MO 64802. www.msgf.com. Or Wounded Warriors Project www.woundedwarriorsproject.org.