Honoring a Family's Sacrifice: The Story of Three WWII Brothers and the Lone Survivor Among Them

Quick answer: Who were the Lantow brothers?

Robert, Norman, and Larry Lantow were brothers from Oklahoma who served in World War II. Robert and Norman were paratroopers with the 101st Airborne; Robert was killed in Normandy on June 13, 1944, and Norman in Holland on November 11, 1944. Larry, a tank platoon leader with the 3rd Armored Division, survived and lived to 100.

The story of the Lantow brothers of Claremore, Oklahoma, John writes, has echoes of Saving Private Ryan. Robert, the third of six children, was turned down by the Army Air Forces for color blindness and became a paratrooper. His younger brother Norman followed him into jump school at eighteen, despite Robert's attempts to talk him out of it. On D-Day both jumped with the 101st Airborne: Robert with the 502nd Parachute Infantry, Norman with the 501st. Robert was killed on June 13, 1944, in the fighting near Carentan known as Bloody Gulch. Norman survived Normandy and jumped into Holland that September. When he left home after a visit, Larry remembered, they shook hands and Norman turned around and never looked back. He was killed by a mortar on November 11, 1944. Larry, a trombone player who had married his high school sweetheart, went through officer candidate school and joined the 3rd Armored Division in France as a replacement tank officer. He fought across Belgium and into Germany, feared the German 88s above everything, and earned a Bronze Star. He came home, built a long career in Tulsa, helped families in need, and died in 2017 at the age of 100.

Why it matters for leaders: Behind every unit history are families who gave more than anyone should be asked to give, and they deserve to be remembered by name.

Q: Where were the Lantow brothers killed?

A: Robert near Carentan, Normandy, on June 13, 1944; Norman in Holland on November 11, 1944, after Operation Market Garden.

Q: What did Larry Lantow fear most as a tank commander?

A: German 88 mm guns, originally anti-aircraft weapons, which destroyed many of his unit's tanks.

Read the full article on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/honoring-familys-sacrifice-story-three-wwii-brothers-lone-john-fenzel

By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation