06-05-2025
102-year-old WWII vet honored at Oklahoma State Capitol
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — He served his country with honor during WWII and now 102-year-old R.D. Lawrence, a former prisoner of war, has been honored with a medal that few Oklahomans ever get when he received the Oklahoma Cross of Valor Monday morning.
'When you get as old as I am, these things don't come easy,' Lawrence said laughing.
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At 102 years young, however, Lawrence makes ordinary life look easy. The well deserved recognition for the Wakita native at the state capitol came in front of friends, family, including his three kids, and more when he received his medal.
'I didn't know my kids had that many friends,' he said. 'They all showed up.'
In 2021, KFOR's Galen Culver highlighted Lawrence's time in the military after he received France's Legion of Honor medal.
'First to Africa then to Italy, Lawrence and his crew flew 37 bombing missions over Europe all with him in his unique vantage point,' Culver said at the time.
'I seen it all. We was lucky,' Lawrence said in 2021.
Lawrence flew in the ball turret position in a B-17 flying fortress. He and his crew were shot down over Hungary on his 37th mission. All 10 of them survived the crash, but Lawrence was captured. As the tide of the war turned and the German's retreated, Lawrence was forced to march more than 500 miles between POW camps. Almost 80 years to the day he was liberated in May 1945, he's still going strong. It was a proud moment for his children.
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'We're very grateful,' Lawrence's daughter Julie Gariss said standing next to her siblings, Leanna Turney and Dick Lawrence. 'I don't know that he thinks he deserves it, but he does it for everybody else that lost their lives.'
'He's my hero,' Turney said.
No doubt, he's a hero to many more as well.
'This has been good and it hasn't been bad,' Lawrence said.
The last time that medal was handed out was 1998. Lawrence is the last surviving member of his B-17 crew. He now lives and still does some work on his family's Wakita farm.
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