Bruce Lawrence played high school and college football. Clyde Hataway
, 69, of Easton, knew Lawrence well. He remembers the day in grade school when Lawrence, who lived right behind the school, extended his hallmark gesture of kindness.
Hataway and Lawrence stayed close throughout middle and high school, playing football together for the rough-and-tumble Stateliners. The plan was to join the Air Force together — a longtime dream for Lawrence — but Hataway’s stint as a running back caught the attention of
, and he left for there on a scholarship. The two lost touch, Hataway said.
Lawrence would sign up for the military, but a bad knee would keep him sidelined until he joined Rutgers University’s ROTC and tried again to serve in October 1965. Hataway eventually joined the Air Force, too, and hoped he’d have the chance to see his childhood friend again.
Hataway would learn from his mother that Lawrence went missing over North Vietnam. He would help pitch in for the memorial scholarship in his buddy’s name with the rest of the Phillipsburg Class of 1960 and carry on Lawrence’s memory within his own.
Lawrence will return home the day Hataway turns 70. It’s a strange, but somewhat comforting birthday present, the Easton resident said.
Weidner has one wish now, she said, and that’s to see Phillipsburg's other two missing heroes, Billy Konyu and James Suydam, returned to their families. Both men are U.S. Army veterans missing in action from the Vietnam War.
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Phillipsburg resident and U.S. Air Force Maj. Bruce Edward Lawrence’s remains will be returned home this week.
12:06 p.m. Thursday: Lawrence's remains arrive at Philadelphia International Airport.
4 to 8 p.m. Thursday: The public can pay respects and sign a guest book at Noto-Wynkoop Funeral Home in Phillipsburg.
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday: The public can pay respects and sign a guest book at the funeral home.
4 p.m. Friday: Welcome Home Memorial Ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Band Shell in Walters Park in Phillipsburg.
10:15 a.m. Saturday: A funeral procession departs the funeral home.
11 a.m. Saturday: Burial at Raubsville Cemetery, Royal Manor Road, Williams Township.
For real-time updates, follow @Major_Lawrence on Twitter.
For information, call the funeral home at 908-454-4553 or check noto-wynkoop.com.