Lawrence James McCormick (July 12, 1888 – December 30, 1961) was a Canadian-born American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player who became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

citizen of the United States on March 17, 1920, and competed in the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

for the American ice hockey team, which won the silver medal. Larry was the older brother of Joseph McCormick, who served as the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the 1920 United States Olympic ice hockey team. While the McCormicks were both from

Buckingham, Quebec Buckingham is a former town located in the Outaouais region in the western portion of the province of Quebec, Canada. Since January 1, 2002, it has been part of the amalgamated city of Gatineau, which merged five former municipalities, incl ...

, they had served in the

U. S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

in France during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Because the brothers each held an

honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...

from the Army, they were entitled to automatic U.S. citizenship and on March 17, 1920, just five weeks before playing in the 1920 Summer Olympics, they both became naturalized Americans. Prior to the war, both of the brothers played in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

for the

Pittsburgh Athletic Association The Pittsburgh Athletic Association at the University of Pittsburgh is a historic, Benno Janssen designed building located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Opened as the home of a gentlemen's club, private social and club (organization), athletic clu ...

and the

Yellow Jackets Yellowjacket or yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory social wasps of the genera ''Vespula'' and ''Dolichovespula''. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries. Most of these ...

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* * * 1888 births 1961 deaths American men's ice hockey centers Anglophone Quebec people Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian ice hockey players Ice hockey people from Outaouais Ice hockey players at the 1920 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in ice hockey Pittsburgh Athletic Association ice hockey players Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets (USAHA) players United States Army personnel of World War I 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-Winter-Olympic-medalist-stub