Duard Lawson
| Date and Place of Birth: | November 11, 1921 Altoga, TX |
| Date and Place of Death: | August 9, 1945 Smiley, TX |
| Baseball Experience: | Amateur |
| Position: | First Base |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | USAAF |
| Area Served: | United States |
Herman Duard Lawson was born in Altoga, Texas on November 11, 1921. A
local amateur baseball player, Duard Lawson lived in Princeton, Texas
and married Paula Welburn on November 14, 1942. He entered military
service and served as a sergeant with the Army Air Force at Foster
Field, Texas, where he was the regular first baseman on the Foster Field
Falcons baseball team.
On August 9, 1945, the Falcons traveled to Childress Army Air Base in
Texas for a ballgame. The Falcons won that contest and five of the
players - Lawson,
Les Clotiaux,
Harold Phillips,
Chester Seipp and
Pete
Zarrilla, along with pilot Second Lieutenant Peter R. Davis - flew back
to Foster Field in a twin-engined Beechcraft AT-7 Navigator airplane. On
the return journey the plane crashed near Smiley, Texas and burst into
flames. Sergeant Lawson and the other five men on board were all killed.
Funeral services for Duard Lawson were held at the Altoga Tabernacle on
Sunday, August 12, 1945. He was buried at the Altoga Service Men
Cemetery.
Thanks to Tracy E. Luscombe at the McKinney Memorial Public Library and Joyce Hall at the Princeton Community Library for help with this biography.
Date Added February 7, 2013
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