Charles T. Lanham

Charles T. Lanham
Lanham with Ernest Hemingway
Nickname	Buck
Born	September 14, 1902(1902-09-14) Washington D. C.
Died	July 20, 1978(1978-07-20) (aged 75) Chevy Chase, Maryland
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1924-1954
Rank	Major General
Commands held	22nd Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	World War II Operation Overlord Battle of Hurtgen Forest Battle of the Bulge
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross Distinguished Service Medal

Major General Charles T. Lanham known as "Buck" was born September 14, 1902 in Washington D. C. He graduated from West Point in 1924. He included among his many military adventures the command of the U.S. 22d Infantry Regiment in Normandy in July 1944, and was the first American officer to lead a break through the Siegfried Line on September 14, 1944. He led a breakout in the Battle of the Bulge after surviving a bloody ordeal in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. It was in the Normandy battles that Lanham and Ernest Hemingway first met. Hemingway was doing battlefield stories for the American audience for Collier's and sought assignment with Lanham's regiment. Hemingway described Lanham as,

“

The finest and bravest and most intelligent military commander I have known.

”

Colonel "Buck" Lanham was the model for Colonel Cantwell in Hemingway's Across the River and Into the Trees. He was a short story writer and poet. Colonel Lanham was brave under fire earning the Distinguished Service Cross in the Huertgen Forest. He retired from the military at the end of 1954, as a Major General, to join the Pennsylvania-Texas Corporation of Colt's Patent Firearms. He resigned in 1958 and joined Xerox in 1960 as Vice President for Government Relations, retiring from that post at the end of 1970. He died July 20, 1978 in Chevy Chase, Maryland from cancer at the age of 76.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSmid=47162573&GRid=10933381&

References

• Hell in the Forest: The 22d Infantry Regiment in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest
• Arlington National Cemetery Lanham
• Jacob A. Stein
• Hemingway Archive

Persondata
Name	Lanham, Charles T.
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 14, 1902
Place of birth	Washington D. C.
Date of death	July 20, 1978
Place of death	Chevy Chase, Maryland