(right) and Colonel Buck T. Lanham (left) after the latter's 22nd Infantry was first to break through the Siegfried Line on September 14, 1944 Lanham was born in
Washington D. C. He attended
Eastern High School and graduated from
West Point in 1924. He was a short story writer and published poet (writing sonnets for several magazines) as well as a soldier. He included among his many military adventures the command of the
22nd 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, near
Buchet. These developments were described by Hemingway in his article "War in the Siegfried Line". He led a breakout in the
Battle of the Bulge after surviving a bloody ordeal in the
Battle of Hurtgen Forest. Lanham earned the
Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in the Huertgen Forest. The citation for the medal reads: (left) and a
2 cm Flak 38 after breakthrough of the
Siegfried Line in Western Germany, September 18, 1944 It was in the Normandy battles that Lanham and Ernest Hemingway first met, and Hemingway later went with Lanham to Huertgen. Hemingway was writing 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." Conversely, one of his least-admired decisions came with the awarding of the
Combat Infantryman Badge to his men. Many men in the 22nd Infantry had landed on Omaha Beach on
D-Day, but Lanham rejected this date and made awards of the badge effective no earlier than August 10, 1944, which deprived the men of an additional $10 per month for the full period in which they fought. His reason "What ever happened in this regiment before I took command does not concern me." While serving as Assistant Division Commander, 104th Infantry Division, Lanham was decorated with the
Order of the Patriotic War First Class when the division linked up with Soviet Red Army units in May 1945. ==Post-military life==