Howard was born on March 8, 1891, in
Washington, D.C. He graduated from the
Virginia Military Institute in 1912. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on May 11, 1914, at which time he reported for duty at the Marine Officers' School, Marine Barracks in
Norfolk, Virginia. U.S. Army Lt. Gen.
Jonathan Wainwright ordered all forces to surrender to the Japanese, upon which Colonel Howard ordered the burning of the regimental colors (flag) and the destruction of all the regiment's weapons prior to surrendering. Colonel Howard lamented that he was the first Marine to surrender a regiment. He was forced to march many miles to a prison camp. He was held as a
prisoner of war in the Philippines and then in
Manchuria. On August 19, 1942, while a POW, Howard received a promotion to brigadier general; however, he would not formally take the rank until he was back in "the jurisdictional limits of the United States." Howard remained a
prisoner of war until liberated in August 1945. He was retroactively promoted to major general, effective March 30, 1942.
Retirement Howard retired from the Marine Corps on March 31, 1953, and was advanced to the grade of lieutenant general. He left behind his widow, Marianna (née Gray) Howard, and two daughters, Nancy and Mary Elizabeth.{{cite web|accessdate=June 7, 2025|url=https://archivesweb.vmi.edu/record.php?ID=5992 |title=Samuel Lutz Howard|work=Historical Roster Database ==Awards and decorations==