101st Division paratrooper here on furlough to see wife. Sgt. Herbert L. Lanier, a veteran of 14 months with the 101st Airborne Division in Europe, is back in the United States for medical treatment, and is spending a furlough with his wife at their home. Lanier, with the demolition engineer corps of the paratroopers, holds battle stars for active service on D-Day, the battle of St. Lo and the jump into Holland. He has a Purple Heart and the Presidential Unit Citation. In addition, he also holds the Bronze Star Medal, awarded to him for blowing up a strategic bridge in Normandy during the first days of invasion. Lanier was a prisoner of the Germans for 10 days when his division was encircled last December at Bastogne. "We got about the same treatment as all POWs have had," he says. "We ate soybean soup and horsemeat once a day. They tried to make us work, and also kicked us around a little. Also, we lost all our personal possessions, including our clothes." Photograph of Sergeant Herbert L. Lanier dressed in his military uniform. Published in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Evening Edition May 15. 1945.
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