Lawrence R. Crane was born on October 31, 1921, in Wichita, Kansas. He was the son of Joseph Howard Crane and Florence G. White Crane.

Lawrence served in the 780th Bomber Squadron, 465th Bomber Group, as a Second Lieutenant and Co-Pilot on the B-24 "Sugar Baby" #42-52498 during World War II. On August 3, 1944, his crew took off from Pantanella, Italy, on a bombing mission over Friedrichshafen, Germany. On their return, they were attacked and shot down by German aircraft. His aircraft crashed at Brendlkar, Tyrol, Austria. His crew lost 2 members in this incident while the remaining were taken as prisoners, including 2Lt Kurtz. Some sources of information reference the location of the crash as Ehrwald.

1Lt Crane died on March 15, 2002, at the age of 80, and is now buried in the Wichita Park Cemetery and Mausoleum, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas, USA. He attained his highest rank in the military as a Major in the US Army Air Forces.