- Name: Kenneth "K.D.", "Ken", or "Kenner" Duane Lawson
- Location of Birth: Taconite, Minnesota
- Date of Birth: December 30, 1927
- Date of Death:
- Parents: Arnold R. Lawson and Mable Mae (Luce) Lawson
- High School and Class: 1945 - Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
- College: attended Itasca Junior College in Coleraine, Minnesota
- Highest Rank: S1 (Seaman First Class)
- Branch: Navy
- Other Branch:
- Date Sworn In: June 14, 1945 (Entry into Active Service)
- Place Sworn In: Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Date of Discharge: August 9, 1946 (Honorable Discharge)
- Place of Discharge: Great Lakes, Illinois
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Units and Locations:
Start Date End Date Unit(s) and Location(s) Served Naval Training Center at Great Lakes, Illinois Report of Separation at Shoemaker, California USS LST 924 (tank landing ship) - Military Awards:
Pacific Theater Medal
Victory Medal
Good Conduct Medal - Military Highlights:
Newspaper article: (undated) “Kenneth Lawson, S 2/c, writes from Great Lakes, Ill. – “Dear Mom and Dad: Well, here I am back in Great Lakes and it looks like I’ll be here for ninety days. We are working in the galley feeding officers. It’s supposed to be a good deal because we get a lot of liberty. We work for two days and are off two. We go on liberty tomorrow at one o’clock and come back Thursday at eleven o’clock. There are 100 men here and 50 work at a time. One of the 50 gets liberty tomorrow. We don’t have to go to bed at any certain time and we eat all we want, but I’d rather ship out. Well, I just got back from the galley; they gave us a little lecture. We wear white every day in the chow hall. Will sign off for now. Love to all, Ken.”
Newspaper article: February 1946 – “Word from Seaman Kenneth Lawson on his first trip out, says that he is in Shanghai, China, and had been temporarily assigned to an LST that was moving horses up the river.”
Ken served on the USS LST 924. During World War II, the LST-924 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and took part in the Leyte landings in November, 1944, the Lingayen Gulf landings in January, 1945, the Visayan Island landings in March and April, 1945, and the Tarakan Island operation in April and May, 1945. Following the war, LST-924 performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service in China until mid-May, 1946. The LST-024 was decommissioned on June 13, 1946 and struck from the Navy list on July 3, 1946.
Ken definitely enjoyed the food! He enjoyed his time in the Navy, every aspect of it! Feels more young people should get the experience. He speaks of old comrades and being in boot camp, trip over to China, China itself very often for a 92 year old! He has a good memory of most of his time in the Navy. - Wars Involved:
World War II - MIA / POW:
- Civilian Life:
- Tribal Affiliation(s):