Laurence L. Archer was born July 16, 1947 to Charles L. and Berta Dee Archer in Lyons, a small, rural town in the center of Kansas. He was raised in a loving, spiritual, honest, traditional family, which helped him fit in with the ethos of West Point. Lyons High School exposed him to teamwork and leadership through sports (football, basketball, track and golf) and clubs (Hi-Y and drama), molding him into the solid, steady person he was to become.
Laurence’s (Larry to his classmates) development was further refined in the crucible of West Point, where he was tested by academics while excelling in sports (150 lbs. football, cross country, and sky-diving), and extracurricular activities (Military Affairs, SCUSA, Glee Club). In intramural cross country, what he lacked in stride, he made up in gusto and determination, contributing to his company winning an academy-wide competition, earning him a patch that he wore proudly on his uniform for all four years. He emerged a leader on the Goat Football Team cow year, beating the Engineers and upholding the axiom that “as the Goats go, so goes the Army Football Team against Navy.”
Upon graduation and his initial Army training at Fort Benning, GA in Airborne School and Infantry Officer Basic Training, Laurence returned to Kansas for his first assignment at Fort Riley, where he served as platoon leader, company executive officer and S-3 Air in the 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized) from February 1970 until October 1971. It was in nearby Manhattan in August 1970 that he met Linda Haag, a student at Kansas State University. They were married in Lyons on December 22, 1971, just before Laurence left for Vietnam in January 1972.
As a captain, leader and winner of three Bronze Stars in his Vietnam assignments, he served as commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 215th Composite Service Battalion, 3rd Brigade (Separate), 1st Cavalry Division in Bien Hoa and commander of the Security Detachment, 1st Army Support Element, Military Region III in Plantation.
Laurence returned to Fort Benning in January 1973 to attend the Infantry Officer Advanced Course from January through December 1973. Their first son, Brian, was born there in November 1973. Laurence transferred to the Quartermaster Corps in August 1973 and attended the Supply Staff Officer Course at Fort Lee, VA from February through April 1974.
Laurence loved West Point and was proud of his service and that he had “marched to the sound of the guns,” but, being drawn in another direction, he left the Army in April 1974 to earn a doctorate of veterinary medicine in June 1980 from Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS. It was there that their daughter Holly was born in February 1975, and their son Kevin was born in June 1980. Following graduation, Laurence, Linda and children returned to Lyons, where Laurence began a 25-year career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
As a veterinary medical officer, Laurence served in Kansas and on emergency response teams throughout the United States and Mexico combating various animal diseases. For over half his career he was in Kansas involved in eradicating the nation-wide brucellosis disease in cattle, a mission accomplished after decades of effort. During this “battle,” Laurence was described as having the mind of an epidemiologist, being a keen strategist, a positive communicator, and effective problem solver. These traits earned him team-wide respect, and he was valued as a critical person in implementing the ever-changing brucellosis eradication plan.
Laurence retired from the USDA in 2005 and devoted his full attention to his family and his faith. Although raised in a Christian home, he began to ponder his Christian beliefs more seriously while in Vietnam. Ever since then, as he describes in the 1969 Legacy Book, he followed the God of the Angel Armies, learning to rely on God’s strength to direct the course of his life and to determine his eternal consequences. While he continued to live the motto Duty, Honor, Country, the priorities in which he applied that motto revolved around God, Family and Country.
An honest, sincere, dedicated, and principled man, Laurence loved Linda, his children and seven grandchildren, constantly sharing his love of God with them and guiding them along the right path in his strong but subtle ways. He enjoyed spending time with them discussing books, sitting around the pool, star-gazing, attending their sporting events, or hunting. When they left home, he told Brian, Holly and Kevin, “Remember, you are a Christian and an Archer.”
His family, friends and coworkers knew Laurence as a man of integrity. You always knew where you stood, and, though soft-spoken, he commanded respect. In all aspects of life he did the “right thing,” admonishing others to do the same. His pastor said he modeled the measure of a man found in the Bible in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. He loved his alma mater as evidenced by his and Linda’s regular participation in class reunions, his “West Point Room” at home, and the Academy crest emblazoned on his headstone.
At times, Laurence was a study in contrast—as a West Point plebe of small stature, being on the corps-wide winning intramural cross-country team, and as a young lieutenant at Airborne School, becoming a motorcycle enthusiast and the de facto leader of “the gang,” when he and several classmates bought motorcycles.
His son, Kevin, concluded his comments at Laurence’s funeral saying that “He was a good man” and that he would be proud if he grew up to be half the man his father was.
— Rich Ashley and A-3 classmates