Will Lang Jr.

Will Lang Jr. (1914-1968) was born on the south side of Chicago on Oct. 7, 1914. He went to the University of Illinois in 1936 where he wrote "campus stories" for Time (magazine). Six months after he started, he was summoned to New York to work for TIME / LIFE on a regular basis. In both 1936 and 1940 he covered the Presidential campaign of James Farley. He also had an opportunity to get an interview with Massachusetts Congressman George Tinkham. During World War II, he became Bureau head in Algiers, Italy, Paris & Berlin. He also became friends with Bill Mauldin, Ernie Pyle, George Silk & Robert Capa. During the war, he wrote many biographies, including , Gen. Lucian Truscott, Bill Mauldin, J. Elmer Spyglass, Col. Creighton Abrams & Canadian manufacturer, Ludger Dionne. On Oct. 7, 1943, Will Lang Jr. was nearly killed in the Naples post office explosion. Later that month, He was commended by Gen.Matthew B. Ridgway for his professionalism during his stay with the 82nd Airborne Division. After D-Day, he had lunch with Mary Welsh Hemingway, the 4th wife of Ernest Hemingway.

Related Topics:
Time (magazine) - James Farley - George Tinkham - World War II - Bill Mauldin - Ernie Pyle - George Silk - Robert Capa - Lucian Truscott - J. Elmer Spyglass - Creighton Abrams - Ludger Dionne - Naples post office explosion - Matthew B. Ridgway - 82nd Airborne Division - D-Day - Mary Welsh Hemingway - Ernest Hemingway

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He witnessed The Battle of the Bulge with Col. Creighton Abrams, in which Abrams later mentions the battle in an article of "The Stars & Stripes"

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After the war, Will Lang Jr. continued his reporting in Europe & witnessed the rebuilding of Berlin and the fall of The Iron Curtain.

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In 1950, one of his stories reported on the discovery of the corpses of Baron Paul Von Hindenburg & his wife that was found in a salt mine in Germany.

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When Will Lang Jr. returned home in late 1950, he became Bureau Head in Boston, Massachusetts.

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From 1954-1960, he served as Bureau Head in Washingtom D.C.

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After he became Bureau Head in Paris in 1960, Will Lang Jr. was summoned to Spain to help his old friend, Ernest Hemingway to publish: "The Dangerous Summer." Hemingway called it an addendum to: "Death in the Afternoon" from 1938. Hemingway persuaded Will Lang Jr. to let him print the manuscript, along with a picture layout before it came out in hardcover. Although not a word of it was on paper, Ernest agreed to the proposal. The first part of story appeared in Life (magazine) on September 5, 1960 which was proceeded by two more installments. In 1961 while in Berlin, Will Lang Jr. witnessed the construction of The Berlin Wall. He also witnessed John F. Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech.

Related Topics:
The Dangerous Summer - Death in the Afternoon - Life (magazine) - Berlin Wall

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In January of 1963, he was promoted to Bureau Head of Domestic and Foreign Departments for Washington D.C.'s LIFE branch.

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In May of 1964, Will Lang Jr. spearheaded the first investigation of the Warren Commission's findings on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He asked Dallas Staff Chief Holland McCombs to mail any information on the investigation directly to him. However, McCombs backed down on his investigation when he learned that his friend and business associate Clay Shaw was involved in the Warren Commission investigation.

Related Topics:
Warren Commission - John F. Kennedy - Holland McCombs - Clay Shaw

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In 1965, Will Lang Jr. was promoted to Chief Regional Bureau Director for LIFE Magazine.

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On Jan. 21, 1968, Will Lang Jr. died instantly from a heart attack while on a skiing trip with his family in Sankt Anton, Austria.

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His body was taken to Salzburg where it was cremated.

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He was survived by his wife Louise, his only child Luisa, his father William Lang Sr., his step-mother Elsa, his brother Larry, & his sister Annette.

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"The thing I most admire about Omar Bradley is his gentleness. He was never known to issue an order to anybody of any rank without saying 'Please' first." --Will Lang Jr. on Omar Bradley

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"He is the bravest man I ever met" --Ernie Pyle on Will Lang Jr.

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?Mr. Lang by reason of his professionalism, competence, genial personality and cheerful sharing of all dangers and hardships has come to be considered a member of the Division.? --Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway of the 82nd Airborne Division on Will Lang Jr.

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"He was a professional. I spent more time with him than anyone else in the war. He was an immensely gentle man, deeply involved with people, not the hungry by-line type at all. He warmed the right seat of my jeep from Anzio through Southern France."--Bill Mauldin on Will Lang Jr.

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