The story of a Vietnam veteran from Poplar Bluff who gave his life while serving his country and trying to save the lives of those he served with recently was shared nationally in “The American Legion” February 2021 magazine.
Vietnam War hero Famous Lee Lane was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the United States Army’s second-highest military decoration for soldiers who display extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force.
Lane’s story in the magazine was told by retired Army Col. Keith Nightingale, who served with him.
That Lane’s story has been shared in recent years has meant a lot to his family, who have painful memories of his homecoming.
Famous’ niece Mary Ann Barber said through tears in March 2019, “It means so much somebody finally cares.”
“My memories are painful,” she recalls of the funeral. “They threw things at us and spit at us. He gave his life for this country.”
Famous was honored in March 2019, by the Poplar Bluff Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter Post 1056 during the group’s Vietnam Veterans Day program at Three Rivers College.
Lane’s name is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C., and the Veterans Wall in Poplar Bluff.
Nightingale recalls many incidents about Lane in his article, from the time they met in 1965 to the most poignant, when Famous Lane became truly famous April 20, 1966, in the Binh Thuan province, South Vietnam.
Nightingale recalls how he met Lane in 1965 when he was a cook with the 82nd Airborne and recalls when they were deployed to the Dominican Republic as part of Operation Power Pack and “Famous first became famous there.”
In his article, Nightingale describes Lane as being known “as a quite large man with an infectious smile. He seldom spoke but just went on with his work and that of others without fanfare. He was the ultimate silent soldier in an organization where the voices and noises of combat were constant conditions.”
The mess had a .50 caliber machine gun as part of their equipment and Lane took the responsibility for its care and use.
Lane and a staff sergeant took the machine gun to the building’s roof. Rebel aircraft flying low began to attack and Lane quickly hit one of the aircraft, which burned and crashed, while the other aircraft left. While he became more famous, according to the colonel, Lane did not change his demeanor or work ethic.
Leaving the 82nd, Lane joined the 101st Airborne, deploying to Vietnam. He was again assigned to the mess. Once in Vietnam, he asked to be a machine gunner.
Nightingale said Lane stood out for three reasons: He wanted to be there, when he could have stayed in the rear. He towered over most of the infantry. He was focused and never complained. He rarely spoke, and he carried his weapon and did his job.
“Few really knew him. He didn’t converse much with others,” Nightingale said. “And there were few fellow Black soldiers in his unit, predominantly composed of whites from the Deep South with prejudices and characteristics commonly associated with that environment at the time.”
According to Nightingale, occasionally two soldiers made fun of or ridiculed Lane, who in return said nothing and went about his work.
On a hot morning, his company was looking across a large rice paddy toward the jungle. Shots rang out and they returned fire. Famous quickly had his M60 working in support.
Nightingale said, looking directly in front of him, Lane saw two wounded, crumpled soldiers, the two who often slighted him. They had been walking point and had triggered the confrontation. Lane stopped firing and ran through continuous fire to reach them. He grabbed them and ran back. He was a big target. His machine gun was unmanned. He was hit by several bullets and killed.
Nightingale ended his article, “I will always remember him for being who and what he was, the truest definition of Famous, who needed no one’s help to make an eternal name for himself.”
Lane’s niece said he was the oldest son of Julia Wilson, her grandmother, “which was a big thing to the family.” He attended Wheatley School and played basketball for the Mules.
He boxed while he was in the service, and at one time was the champion at Fort Bragg.
“He was fun-loving and had a heart as big as gold,” said Barber in 2019, adding while he was all military, he was always doing something to get a stripe taken away.
Editor’s Note: Retired Poplar Bluff Police Officer Tom Brown, who also spent 38 years in the military, read the story about a local hero in the American Legion February 2021 magazine. Brown brought the article to the newspaper to share with the community. Portions of the legion story are shared along with information from a Daily American Republic story from 2019.