WINSTOM SALEM, N.C., February 6, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- In his published memoirs, Lawrence Reid shares his experiences in the Navy during World War II. Tales of a Tin Can Sailor (available from 1stBooks Library) is the story of two ships and many dedicated fighting men who, working together with a single purpose, accomplished heroic deeds.
"From the beginning, I have not looked at this as a history of naval events," Reid writes of his work. "Rather, I have tried to show how a group of unselfish and dedicated people, operating under the most trying conditions, can have an effect on major human events."
From waging submarine warfare in the Atlantic to participating in Mediterranean invasions and battling kamikazes in the Pacific, Reid has had a wide range of wartime encounters. His task group was the first to fire on the Japanese mainland and the first Allied ship of any kind to drop anchor in Tokyo Bay.
Reid notes that the year he spent in the Mediterranean is of particular historical significance. The Navy played a major role in the invasions of Sicily, Salerno and Anzio, and was indispensable to the successes of those landings. In the Salerno operation, the Navy prevented the defeat and evacuation of U.S forces in Italy, the first landing of American troops in Europe.
Reid plans to share the profits of Tales of a Tin Can Sailor with the Naval Memorial Foundation, the Historical Naval Ships Association, and the Tin Can Sailors Association.
Reid was born and raised in Winston Salem, N.C. In April 1941 he joined the Navy's V7 program, an officer's training program that had just been established. After nearly five years, four of which were spent at sea, he returned to his Carolina home. Immediately upon his return, he formed a naval reserve unit along with Captain Alex Nading, and, with generous funds from the Navy, built a first class armory. The unit quickly became the number one division in the 5th Naval District and remained in that position for many years. Reid has been very active in civic affairs, and he has been happily married for 55 years with a daughter, two sons and nine grandchildren.
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