With each passing year there are fewer and fewer World War II heroes to remind us of the sacrifice and courage of the American soldiers who fought in that war. We are grateful and deeply moved that Lawrence Kaplan of Plandome Heights took the time to share his incredible story with our reporter.
Kaplan was drafted in 1942 and fought in Europe under General George S. Patton, a man who retained his status as a hero in the hearts of many soldiers, like Kaplan, decades after the fighting ended. To this day Kaplan keeps an autographed photograph of Patton in an album of wartime photos.
Kaplan is now 98 years old. He and his wife Jeanne have seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren. His story reads like the script from an Hollywood World War II movie. He was born in the Bronx to a very poor family. When he returned from the war he eventually became a college professor.
He was part of the Allied forces that helped liberate the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in 1945. In a particularly moving story, he recalled travelling with the 6th Armored Division on Christmas Eve 1945 during one of the worst Belgian winters in history.
“We never slept indoors unless we got very lucky,” Kaplan said. But on that special night they came across a nunnery where, “They welcomed us inside and gave us their beds, and they took heated bricks and wrapped them in blankets and put them next to our feet to warm our frozen toes.”
We don’t know how many Larry Kaplans are left on Long Island with stories like this that need to told. We are grateful that Mr. Kaplan shared his.
