Charles S. Lawrence (December 22, 1892 – June 12, 1970) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

who would survive the

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March (Filipino: ''Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan''; Spanish: ''Marcha de la muerte de Bataán'' ; Kapampangan: ''Martsa ning Kematayan quing Bataan''; Japanese: バターン死の行進, Hepburn: ''Batān Shi no Kōshin'') was ...

to later become the first Executive Vice President of the

Institute of Food Technologists The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is an international, non-profit scientific society of professionals engaged in food science, food technology, and related areas in academia, government and industry. It has more than 17,000 members from ...

(IFT).

Early life and career

A native of

Guyton, Georgia Guyton is a city in Effingham County, Georgia, Effingham County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 2,289 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, up from 1,684 in 2010 United States Census, 2010. Guyton is loc ...

, Lawrence enlisted in the

in 1915 where he served for 33 years, including both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Assignment to the Philippines

By the start of World War II, Lawrence was a

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

in the

United States Army Quartermaster Corps The United States Army Quartermaster Corps, formerly the Quartermaster Department, is a sustainment, formerly combat service support (CSS), branch of the United States Army. It is also one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being ...

serving in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

when

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

invaded the country on December 22, 1941, as part of the Asian nation's Pacific conquests, now known as the Battle of the Philippines. During this time, the quartermasters (including Lawrence) attempted to purchase as much food as possible to outlast the invaders, but were stopped by their own commanding generals. This accounted for losses of 10 million pounds of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

as a result in one instance. In Lawrence's case at

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac ( pam, Lalawigan ning Tarlac; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Tarlac; ilo, Probinsia ti Tarlac; tgl, Lalawigan ng Tarlac; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. It ...

where he served as depot commander, he had planned on seizing about 2,000 cases of canned food, mostly

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

and

corned beef Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is Salt-cured meat, salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and sp ...

, and a large amount of clothing from Japanese firms stationed in the Philippines, but was refused by

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

's headquarters claiming that Lawrence had no right to confiscate these items. In fact, MacArthur's staff threatened the lieutenant-colonel with

court martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

if he attempted to take those supplies. The supplies were not taken as a result and were later destroyed during the

Battle of Bataan The Battle of Bataan ( tl, Labanan sa Bataan; January 7 – April 9, 1942) was fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against Japan during World War II. The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese inva ...

World War II

During the battle, food supplies became so scarce that soldiers became hunters in an effort to stay alive. Even though American and Filipino forces would be victorious in early battles, they could not hold on and Bataan fell on April 8, 1942. Lawrence was among the 15,000 Americans who surrendered with 60,000 Filipinos and were forced into the

. He survived the march and would spend the rest of the war as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

. Lawrence was discharged from the US Army in 1948 after the end of World War II. He would earn the Legion of Merit, the

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

with

Oak Leaf Cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a speci ...

, the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

with Oak Leaf Cluster, the

Mexican Border Service Medal The Mexican Border Service Medal was a U.S. service medal established by an Act of Congress on July 9, 1918. It was awarded for service between May 9, 1916 and March 24, 1917, or with the Mexican Border Patrol between January 1, 1916 to April ...

, the World War I Victory Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, the

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. The Wo ...

, and the American Defense of the Pacific medal.

Institute of Food Technologists service

After retirement from the Army, Lawrence agreed to become the first Executive Secretary (now Executive Vice President) of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) in 1949. He took over the secretary's role from Carl R. Fellers, head of the food technology department at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

and moved the national offices to its present location in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Lawrence's tenure as Executive Secretary would see IFT grow from 3,000 members in 1949 to 6,000 members at the time of his retirement from the IFT in 1961.

Post-IFT activities

Following IFT, Lawrence served as advisor to the president of the National Florasynth Laboratory in Chicago until he retired for good in 1963. He and his wife then moved to

Romney, West Virginia Romney is a town in and the county seat of Hampshire County, West Virginia, Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,722 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History Established by consecutive acts of the V ...

, where he lived until his death in 1970. He is buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

References

* Goldblith, S.A. (1993). ''Pioneers in Food Science, Volume 1: Samuel Cate Prescott – M.I.T. Dean and Pioneer Food Technologist.'' Trumball, CT: Food & Nutrition Press. p. 102. * "In Memoriam: Calvert L. Willey." ''Food Technology.'' June 1994. pp. 20–21.

External links

Arlington National Cemetery information on Lawrence

A history of food science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst 1918-93.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Charles S. 1892 births 1970 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army personnel of World War II Bataan Death March prisoners Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Businesspeople from Georgia (U.S. state) Businesspeople from Chicago People from Effingham County, Georgia People from Romney, West Virginia Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army colonels World War II prisoners of war held by Japan Businesspeople from West Virginia 20th-century American businesspeople Military personnel from Illinois