Lawrence Varsi Castner (May 1, 1902 – December 7, 1949) was an American businessman, fencer and military officer. He competed in the individual and team

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

events at the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

. His greatest acclaim came during World War II, when he led a unit known as Castner's Cutthroats in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Biography

Lawrence V. Castner was born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

on May 1, 1902. He is the son of Major General

Joseph Compton Castner Joseph Compton Castner (November 18, 1869 – July 8, 1946) was a United States Army general. He commanded the Ninth Infantry Brigade in all its operations as a part of the Fifth Division, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during the final mont ...

. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

at West Point in 1923. For his service in Alaska, he earned the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation, state or country. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in act ...

and the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

. He died at his mother's home in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

on December 7, 1949, after a long illness, and was buried at

San Francisco National Cemetery San Francisco National Cemetery is a United States national cemetery, located in the Presidio of San Francisco, California. Because of the name and location, it is frequently confused with Golden Gate National Cemetery, a few miles south of the c ...

References

External links

* 1902 births 1949 deaths American male sabre fencers United States Army personnel of World War II Fencers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for the United States Sportspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Fencers from San Francisco United States Army colonels Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Military personnel from Anchorage, Alaska 20th-century American businesspeople Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Burials at San Francisco National Cemetery 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-fencing-bio-stub