Lawrence Swenk

Lawrence E. Swenk was born 25 March 1894 in Barnesboro, Pennsylvania. As the eighth of nine children, his parents were fairly old when he was born; his father John was 57, and his mother Sarah was 42. John passed away when Lawrence was only 12 years old, leaving Sarah and her sons to work the family farm.
Apparently, there was some kind of a disconnect regarding where John was from. In the 1920 census, Lawrence listed his father as having come from Germany, and speaking German. However, for the 1900 census, John said he was born in Pennsylvania, as was his father before him. Regardless, it seems John’s generation was the first to change the spelling from Schwenk, which the family had used since coming from Baden-Württemberg three generations before.

As the United States entered World War I, Lawrence dutifully filled out his draft card in June 1917. He was still single at this time, of medium height and build, with brown eyes and black hair. His draft number came up the following year, and he entered the Army in April 1918.

Lawrence was assigned to the 37th Infantry Division, 145th Infantry Regiment, Company F. After training, his unit shipped out on the Leviathan from Hoboken, New Jersey on June 15th.

While in France, the 37th Division helped repel Germany’s spring offensive around Ypres/Lys. It then occupied the Baccarat Sector in Lorraine during the summer, followed by the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne in the fall. For his service, he was awarded the Victory Medal with two battle clasps.
The Great War ended on November 11th, 1918, and Lawrence returned to the U.S. four months later. He arrived on March 27th, 1919, and was discharged two weeks later at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He had been in the Army for less than a year.

Following the war, Lawrence went back to Pennsylvania and got a job as a lathe operator. Sometime between 1920 and 1922, he got married and had his first son. In 1924, he started working at the U.S. Steel plant in Vandergrift, where he remained until he retired in 1954.

Lawrence Swenk passed away in 1975 while he was visiting a few of his grandchildren in Ohio. He was survived by 6 children, 8 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren, not to mention innumerable nieces and nephews. Among them was Sara Jones, my grandmother.

This Veteran’s Day I am remembering my great-granduncle PFC Lawrence E. Swenk.