Lt. Col. Laurence Stallings was a platoon commander with the 3/5 Marines at Chateau-Thierry during World War I. He was wounded in the right leg during Belleau Wood after charging a machine gun nest. After begging the surgeons to not amputate it, he spent two painful years recovering at the Brooklyn Naval Hospital. He later re-injured the leg, and had it amputated in 1922. He Received the Silver Star and the Croix de Guerre for his service with the American Expeditionary Forces.
Stallings grew up in Macon, Georgia and graduated from Wake Forest Wake Forest University in 1916. A year later he would join the Marine Corps Reserve Marine Forces Reserve He also received a master’s degree from Georgetown University. 
At Wake Forest he met Helen Poteat. They would marry in 1919. They had two daughters, Sylvia and Diana. In 1924 he published an autobiographical novel, Plumes. It depicts an amputee Veteran returning from the war and re-adapting to society. The movie adaptation, The Big Parade, was MGM’s highest grossing film until Gone With The Wind in 1939. Parade grossed approximately $20 million, (equal $300 million today). It also won Photoplay Magazine’s (a film publication predating the Oscars) Gold Medal for 1925. The film can be seen online.
The same year as Plume was published, Stallings’ play “What Price Glory?” debuted at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (then the Plymouth Theatre) for its 1924 season. The show depicted a rivalry between two Marines fighting over a French woman during World War I. It was controversial for its profanity. But the popularity of the play and the realization that life in the trenches was even more salty than that depicted on stage, won out. 
The 1926 silent film adaptation caused even more controversy. Although there was no profanity in the title cards, lip readers could see the actors mouthing the bad words. 
The 1953 film adaptation, titled “What Price Glory” stars James Cagney 
In 1929, Stallings divorced Helen, and a year later married his secretary at Fox Studios, Louise St. Leger Vance. They had two children, Laurence, Jr. and Sally. 
In 1930 Stallings adapted Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms” for the stage. He also worked on the 1949 screenplay for “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon” starring John Wayne.
Stallings advocated for more roles for African Americans in stage and film. In 1963 he published his last book, The Doughboys: The Story of the AEF, 1917-1918. It partly explored the racism faced by black troops during the war. 
Over his career he worked on 20 screenplays, nine plays and published four books.
Stallings was recalled to active duty during World War II, but never left the United States. 
In 1968, at the age of 78, he died in Pacific Palisades, California. He is interred at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. #NoVeteranEverDies


Laurence Stallings is a Notable burial at https://www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/ftrosecrans.asp.  He was a screenwriter with over two dozen writing credits, i.e. "What Price Glory."  Stallings lost his leg fighting in WWI, and wrote "What Price Glory" about his deep anti-war feelings. The spirit of the play is subverted in the film adaptations. His more than two dozen writing credits include "Old Ironsides" (1926), "Billy the Kid" (1930), "Too Hot to Handle" (1938), "Northwest Passage" (1940), "Christmas Eve" (1947), and "The Sun Shines Bright."
https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/34668.

*The preceding content is not intended as a comprehensive biography, but it highlights their significance as a result of military or civilian distinction, lasting achievements, or association with impactful national events. 


Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery

laurence tucker stallings jr's Profile Picture

Grave marker image for (LAURENCE STALLINGS).

LAURENCE TUCKER STALLINGS JR

Service

LT COL

Resting Place

32.68955635, -117.24469414

Mementos

Tributes

Word Cloud

undefined

Milestones

Mementos

Historical Documents

Veteran programs and services

More VA resources

Get VA updates

In crisis? Get help now

Contact us