George Lawson Keene was born on September 23, 1898, in Crockett, Texas. His parents were both descendants of pioneering Texas families, and his grandfather, Edward Y. Keene, was a member of the Mier expedition and had survived the Black Bean Episode in 1843. George Keene, who was known as Lawson, grew up in Crockett. Just prior to the United States’s entry into World War I, Keene enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio on March 24, 1917. He was first assigned to Company G, Nineteenth Infantry, and received only minimal basic training before being moved with the Nineteenth to Mexican border duty. After the formal declaration of war with Germany by the United States, Lawson Keene was subsequently assigned to Company K, Twenty-eighth Infantry. In June 1917 Keene and the Twenty-eighth Infantry became a part of the Second Brigade, First Division, and entrained to Hoboken, New Jersey, where they departed for France on USAT Tenadores and landed at St. Nazaire, France.
Shortly after arrival in France, the First Division began extensive training to compensate for the lack of basic training back in America. Although various individuals and companies of the Twenty-eighth Infantry participated in trench actions during this training, until January 1918, Company K was generally held as a reserve force. Keene was made a platoon leader and promoted to corporal and was among those involved in early actions.
His real introduction to combat came on the morning of May 28, 1918, at Cantigny, France, just as an hour-long artillery barrage ended. The oft-attacked village was selected for America’s first major combat role. Two days of fighting left Americans in control of Cantigny and provided the First Division with its first combat experience. This was the start of an intensive five months of action for Keene. He participated in actions at Montdidier-Noyon in June; in August at Aisne-Marne, where he was promoted to sergeant; in September at St. Mihiel; and in October in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. During this time, Keene’s action in combat resulted in citations that ultimately produced two Silver Stars and a Distinguished Service Cross in addition to several French, British, and Italian medals as well as multiple unit and division citations.
One of the Silver Stars came for action during Aisne-Marne and included the citation: “…with great courage (Keene) assisted his officer (2 Lt. Samuel I. Parker) in organizing a group of men who had become demoralized and was a prime factor in the capture of enemy’s strongpoint.” His second Silver Star, in the form of an Oak Leaf Cluster, was awarded for distinguishing “…himself in action northeast of Exermont, France, 9 October 1918, while remaining in command of his platoon, although suffering from the effects of gas.” In addition to the Silver Star, Keene received the Purple Heart for severe wounds as well as for the effects of the gas. The Distinguished Service Cross best signified Keene’s individual contributions to helping win World War I.
By July 18, 1918, Company K and much of the Twenty-eighth Infantry had been depleted with casualties. With officers in short supply, experienced senior enlisted men were given field promotions and moved to other units. In July, Keene was named the enlisted leader of a platoon from Company K under then Second Lt. Samuel I. Parker. Action during July 18–19 resulted in a Medal of Honor for Parker, who later recommended Keene for the same award. Instead, Lawson Keene was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. The citation praised Keene:
“…for extraordinary heroism in action….Corporal Keene, then acting sergeant, rendered splendid assistance to his commanding officer in helping…organize and lead a group of American and French Colonial soldiers against an enemy strong point….During the attack, Corporal Keene was in command of the troops on the right flank, and in storming the position, he rushed forward at the head of his men, hurled a hand grenade in the trenches, subdued one of the most difficult posts of the enemy position and personally captured an officer on whom was found important maps of the enemy positions.”
On the second day, Corporal Keene served in the capacity of an officer by commanding a company in the first wave of the attack formation and when his battalion commander became wounded he rendered valuable aid in assisting in maintaining control of formations until the objective was reached. Keene’s commanding officer Second Lt. Parker lauded Keene’s “gallant conduct under fire” and described him as a “born leader of men” with “sound judgment and cheerful nature” whose actions helped the platoon capture “6 machineguns and about 40 prisoners.” Keene earned his second Silver Star for his actions at Exermont in October 1918, when he “displayed exceptional courage in directing his men when hostile counter-attack was imminent.” Keene explained to a Houston Chronicle reporter in 1933 about his wounds: “I was gassed and ordered to report to the rear, Keen said. “But I couldn’t. There wasn’t anyone to lead my men. I had to stay on.”
Following Germany’s surrender on November 11, 1918, Keene and his company, along with others in the Twenty-eighth Infantry, remained in Germany as an occupying force. He returned to the United States in September 1919 and was discharged at Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky, in March 1920. Disabled due to his wounds, Keene entered a program for extended training. He selected watchmaking and jewelry and relocated to Dallas, where he trained at the Southwestern Watchmaking School. After a year working at a Dallas jeweler, Keene returned to Crockett and married his childhood sweetheart, Dewey G. Kennedy, on November 11, 1921. They lived for a time in Dallas, returned briefly to Crockett, and then in 1926 relocated to the oil boom Goose Creek community south of Houston where he continued his jewelry business. In Goose Creek, today a part of Baytown, Keene served as an elected official, took leadership roles in local veteran’s groups, including the local Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was a key member of the East Harris Draft Board during World War II and worked for the local General Tire and Rubber Company factory as a foreman and remained there until his death. He also returned to a childhood love of the theater by producing, acting in, and building scenery for local dramas.
Although Keene was considered a “war hero” in the media and local circles, it was not until after his death that a medal count revealed Lawson to be the most decorated soldier from World War I. In the 1960s, as news features appeared, Keene was incorrectly credited with having been the recipient of the Medal of Honor in 1940, a misread of final action on Congressman Thomas’s legislation. Since the 1970s that error has been published in stories throughout the southeastern part of Texas. Family members say that Keene never claimed to have won the medal nor did he promote himself as a hero.
George Lawson Keene died at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Houston on October 20, 1956; his wife Dewey Keene died in Baytown on August 27, 1979. Both are buried at Earthman Memory Gardens in Baytown, Texas."
Content courtesy of the Handbook of Texas
I get stories like this emailed to me about once a month. And try to pass them along. To be honest I've never heard of George Lawson Keene until I read that article.