Memorial

Biography

When Henry was a young boy, the family was broken apart by the divorce of William "Bill" Lassen and Dorothy. The divorce was a very bitter one, and the children, Henry, younger sister Marilyn and younger brother Buster Bill, were raised by their grandmother "Granny." Their father re-married and their mother's name was the same as Granny's, Mary Elizabeth and she too had a bitter divorce and raised her son, Todd as a single mother until she remarried my father. I am the only child of that marriage. So, Henry, Marilyn, Buster and Todd were all my half-brothers and sister. I am nearly 13 years younger than Hank and he gave me my nick name "Butch". When in grade school, Hank and two friends would go in the front door of the school and then out the back door and skip school all day. Finally after deciding not to put up with these boys antics any further they were being driven to school by car and when the car left the town they learned they were enrolled at a Military School in and adjoing state - Missouri Military Academy. Hank was rebellious, liked to fight and was very athletic although short and wirey. There were some much larger boys who learned quickly not to mess around with him because he would deck them. I believe Hank was angry due to his family situation. Mother and father divorced, being raised by his grandmother. Our dad was in the oil business and gone a lot of the time. My grandmother depended a lot on her housekeepers to look after the children. All of this as I said weighed heavily on him. My father and his attorney friend though that it was best for Hank and the attorney's nephew to apply for the US Air Corps. Before Hank was accepted into flying school, he was accepted into an Officer's Training School in Michigan, so he turned down the Air Corps. While in Officer's Training, the Army closed down the school and transferred those students into the 104th Infantry division a plane soldiers. Submitted by Evan "The Butcher Boy" Lassen.