Written by Collette Dobeck Matthews. This piece was featured in our first print volume released in May of 2023. Check it out here!
Leonard “Len” Lawson is a man of many amazing accomplishments that qualify him as a hero. In fact, he could even be classified as a superhero. Len was born on September 1, 1944 and lives in Jonestown, PA. He lives a pretty normal life these days but his past is extraordinary. Len has served his country in two foreign wars and has many impressive stories to tell about it. He was also an incredible athlete and excelled at sports most of his life including being a World Champion Weightlifter in his 50’s. This man has surely earned his bragging rights.
Len when he outran the ball he just hit to first base.
Lawson played little league baseball from the age of 9 through high school and was so fast that he was able to outrun the ball he just hit to first base. Len was a great ball player and shared many photos and newspaper clippings from his sports days. He also had a very successful high school football career as a half-back for Lebanon Catholic. In high school he had the record for running 96 yards for a touchdown at Lebanon Catholic. Over his 4 years as a varsity football player Len scored a whopping 133 points. He was an All-County All-Star and in 1963 won most outstanding back in the Lancaster County East-West All-Star Game as a halfback and made the Big 33 Football Team. In 1963 he played semi-pro football for the Lebanon Rams.
Weightlifting and bodybuilding also became a passion of Len’s that started in 1963 and would stick with him throughout his life. His weight lifting accomplishments are incredible. In 1992, he was the first ever powerlifter to be inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. His numerous powerlifting successes were during his long military career from 1967 after recovering from a combat injury in Vietnam until the mid 1990’s. During that military career, he was a fitness trainer who trained other soldiers to be combat ready all over the world and was also an official. Over the course of his career he competed in 77 championships and has a total of 53 first places, 19 second places, and 5 third places. He was a Master Weightlifter and is lifetime drug-free, meaning all of his lifts were natural. Being natural without using strength enhancing drugs is a big deal in the powerlifting world and something Lawson is proud of, while also advocating for others to do the same. Len has won championships all over the country and all over the world. He is a World Champion Weightlifter and has set many records over the course of his career. Many of these records he set and awards he won were at military competitions and also through competitions for the WNPF (World Natural Powerlifting Federation). As a Master and over the age of 50 his best lifts are 555lbs for a squat, 350 lbs for a Bench Press, and a 560 lbs deadlift. This was a total of 1450 lbs which puts Len in elite status. He also served as vice chairman of the U.S. Powerlifting Association of New Mexico State from 1988-1990. The United States Army has given Len many awards and medals for his success in powerlifting. He also has gotten the Presidential Sports Awards for weight training, jogging, and running. These awards are just to list a few he has many other impressive awards as well.
In 1968, Len married his beautiful wife Emma. Len and Emma had two daughters together, Ann and Jessica. They have 6 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren. Emma Lawson was also involved in the weightlifting world, not only as a great support for her husband, but also as a recognized and appreciated official in Europe for the sport. Sadly, in 2021 Emma passed away but it is evident that she had a great impact on everyone who knew and loved her.
Lawson was drafted into the Army in 1965. In 1966, he was on his way to fight in Vietnam as a paratrooper in the infantry. He was a member of the 101 Airborne Division known as the Screaming Eagles. In total Len jumped out of helicopters 18 times. Len was injured during combat which was a setback that he refused to let stop him from coming back strong and continuing to serve his Country. After Vietnam, he was in the 82 Airborne Division. Soon after he was stationed at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Where he went to Warrant Officer School in 1986. At the White Sands Missile Range he became Sergeant 1st Class as an enlisted soldier.
During his time at the White Sands Missile Range he worked on the Patriot Missile Program in 1989 for the Department of Defense and played a very crucial part in testing the Patriot Missile Air Defense System. He was at the controls where he was able to successfully aim and pushed the button that launched a missile that made direct contact with another Patriot Missile launched from 50 miles away. This successful contact was a deciding factor that helped make the decision to go to war in Iraq. Len then went on to fight for his country again during combat in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War also known as Desert Storm. The Patriot Missiles were not the only missiles he worked on, Lawson also completely assembled the Nike Hercules missiles across Europe where he was stationed after the Persian Gulf War. In fact, there is a decommissioned Nike Hercules missile on display outside of the Jonestown Legion. Len Served his country until 1996 then went to work for the post office until 2006.
Today Len enjoys taking care of his family and playing with his dog. Many of his trophies, medals, plaques, and ribbons are on display in his home on several shelves along with plenty of photographs. It is very clear that he was not only strong but brave as his military awards are also on display on their very own wall. Len also revealed he has also played Santa Clause. He surely is a man of many talents as he has a long impressive resume to prove it and the awards and photographs to back it all up.
Many of Len’s awards, photographs, newspaper clippings and stories will be shared in future papers and in an online archive for the public to view. More information to come. Mr. Lawson has more to share with the community and the Northern Lebanon Bulletin is looking forward to showing the scope of how many things our local hero has accomplished.
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