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Sunday, November 11, 2001

&uot;It’s really nice,&uot; is what Lawrence F. Stotts says of the award he recently received from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The certificate which came with the Philippine Liberation Medal and the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Badge states the award for Stotts is for his service in this nation during World War II.

&uot;I was helped by Jim Doty,&uot; Stotts said, explaining how the application for the award was made about a year ago.

Doty, a Marine paratrooper and veteran of Asiatic-Pacific Theater service during World War II, received the award two years ago. He thought his friend Stotts should also be recognized for his military service in the liberation of the Philippine Islands from Japanese occupation.

&uot;My father had a barber shop under what’s now Fisher’s Jewelry,&uot; the 1933 graduate of Albert Lea High School said.

Stotts worked at the Morlea Dairy prior to World War II. In 1941 he married Elinor Johnson of Lerdal.

&uot;We celebrated our 60th anniversary not long ago,&uot; he said.

Stotts became a member of the U.S. Army in June 1942 and served until December 1945. During this 3 1/2-year period, he was overseas for about two years and earned two battle stars.

&uot;I served with Battery C, 318th Field Artillery Battalion of the 81st ‘Wildcat’ Division,&uot; Stotts said.

&uot;This Wildcat has tamed down,&uot; he added, jokingly.

The Wildcat Division saw combat duty in the Phillipine Islands during late 1944. Their next assignment was to work with the Marines in the invasion of the Caroline Islands, with Peleliu Island as the main target.

&uot;The battle for Peleliu was supposed to take three days, and it turned out to be three months,&uot; Stotts said.

The next move for the Wildcat Division was to New Caledonia for a rest period. Then the troops went back to the Phillipine Islands to prepare for the invasion of the Japanese home islands in the fall of 1945.

However, atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki suddenly ended World War II in August 1945. Stotts’ unit was sent to the Yokohama-Tokyo area for occupation duty.

&uot;I got home in time for Christmas,&uot; he said about the end of his military service at the end of 1945.

Stotts worked for 23 years as the custodian of the Hayward Elementary School and retired in 1980.

&uot;I also coached football, basketball and baseball after school, &uot;he explained. &uot;I sure missed the kids when I retired.&uot;

The Stotts family lived in Hayward for 33 years. Lawrence and Elinor now live in Albert Lea.

Stotts enjoys sports. He keeps active by playing pool every morning at the nearby Albert Lea Senior Citizens Center. On Monday and Thursday afternoons Stotts goes bowling.

Lawrence and Elinor Stotts have two sons: Rex of Albert Lea, and Stewart of Rapid City, S.D. There are also five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.