Lewis Landes (December 12, 1891 – January 8, 1972) was a

US 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 ...

and a lawyer.

Early life

He was born on December 12, 1891, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

where he joined the

Florida National Guard The Florida National Guard is the National Guard force of the state of Florida. It comprises the Florida Army National Guard and the Florida Air National Guard. The United States Constitution charges the National Guard with dual federal and stat ...

where he was sent to capture

Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''Collins English Dictionary''. ; ;

. He married Kathryn G. Levy (1893–1974) also known as "Kitty", around 1913 and had the following children: Sidney W. Landes (1914–2005); Leslie N. Landes (1922–2004) of

Rye, New York Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...

; and Richard J. Landes (1927-2022 ) who worked for

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

and was with

David Packard David Packard ( ; September 7, 1912 – March 26, 1996) was an American electrical engineer and co-founder, with Bill Hewlett, of Hewlett-Packard (1939), serving as president (1947–64), CEO (1964–68), and chairman of the board (1964–6 ...

when he was

Deputy Secretary of Defense The deputy secretary of defense (acronym: DepSecDef) is a statutory office () and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The deputy secretary is the principal civilian deputy to the se ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 1914 he was a member of the Jewish Soldiers and Sailors Passover Committee. During

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 ...

he was with the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

and he may have served on the American Jewish Committee. In 1917 at age 26 he was promoted to

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 ...

. At the end of the war he headed the Allied Reparations Committee.

WGL

The WGL AM radio station first broadcast on January 30, 1927, from the Hotel Majestic, at Central Park West and 72nd Street. The station was owned by the International Broadcasting Corporation. Colonel Lewis Landes was the station president and he stated on the inaugural broadcast: "The International Broadcasting Corporation's aim is to adhere to truth, to be free of partisanship, religious or political." The station remained on the air for only 20 months before it went bankrupt.

Legal career

Colonel Landes defended

Eddie August Schneider Eddie August Henry Schneider (October 20, 1911 – December 23, 1940) was an American aviator who set three transcontinental airspeed records for pilots under the age of twenty-one in 1930. His plane was a Cessna Model AW with a Warner-Scar ...

in 1936, when Eddie returned from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

where he flew in the

Yankee Squadron The Yankee Squadron was a group of mercenary American military aviators who flew for the Spanish Republican Air Force during the Spanish Civil War. History In November 1936, representatives of the Second Spanish Republic (Spanish Republican ...

for the Spanish Loyalists in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. Landes was held in contempt in a case in the

Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New Y ...

, a finding which was affirmed on appeal. Landes also appeared in several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jockey Club

Around 1940 Colonel Lewis Landes, was asked to act as

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

pro bono ( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...

for the Jockeys Community Fund and Guild.

World War II

During

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 ...

he was sent to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where he was the chief aide to

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 ...

and was in charge of logistics and supplies. Most of the troops under his command were

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

and in 1944 he wrote:

Automotive Workers Reach Overseas Vehicle Quota Through Overtime. "Work for Victory" and not "wish for victory", is the living slogan in
Camp Atterbury Camp Atterbury-Muscatatuck is a federally-owned military post, licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard, located in south-central Indiana, west of Edinburgh, Indiana and U.S. Route 31. The camp's mission is to provide full logis ...
's Automotive Section of the Combined Maintenance Branch. The report fot he month of June is typical. It simply states: "Quota reached: Required vehicles reconditioned and shipped overseas." But behind that simple statement is a story - a story of toil and labor, of sweat and grime, and 12-hour workdays, preceded and followed by long drives to and from work! But here is the story: The Fifth Service Command assigns quotas of vehicles for overseas processing to this station by month or other determined periods of time. During the month of February the shop went on a 10-hour basis in an attempt to meet those quota figures. Early in June it was evident that even on a 10-hour schedule the shop would be unable to meet the quota set for the month. A meeting was held of all employees, at which Col. ''Lewis Landes'', director, Supply Division, spoke to the men indicating the urgency of meeting quota assignment. At this meeting Col. ''Landes'' inquired how many could and would work extra hours to meet the quota and immediate response indicated approximately 80 per cent would work any hours necessary. A few days later, a 12-hour work day was inaugurated in all automotive shops, plus Sunday work. The June quota was met and another vote of loyalty was written. "On behalf of the Commanding Officer, Col. Modisette, and myself, I desire to take this opportunity to express to you our deep appreciation for your splendid cooperation in enabling this Post to meet its quota of overseas vehicles for the month of June, 1944. To accomplish this you voluntarily agreed to work extra hours each day and nine hours on Sunday. By your efforts you have contributed much to the war effort", said Col. ''Landes''.

Death

The Colonel donated a Greek vase to the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. He died on January 8, 1972, at New Rochelle Hospital and was at living 1833 Palmer Avenue in

Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village was 5,864 at the 2010 census. In February 2019, Bloomberg ranked Larc ...

References

External links

*
Obituary: Leslie N. Landes (1922-2004)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landes, Lewis 1891 births 1972 deaths Jewish American military personnel Military personnel from New York City University of Florida alumni Lawyers from New York City 20th-century American lawyers