Born in Germany in 1920, Herman Lang fled Germany as a teenager, arriving in New York in 1939. He joined the US Army just before the United States entered WWII. With his knowledge of the German landscape, he was sent for training as an intelligence officer at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. Known as the “Ritchie Boys,” Lang’s unit contributed to the war effort in both Europe and the Pacific theater. Lang served as General George S. Patton’s personal translator and – after the war – served as a civilian interrogator at the Nuremberg war crimes trials.
In post-war life, Lang became a cameraman for CBS-TV, working on programs that featured broadcasting icons like Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite. He filmed Jackie Kennedy’s White House tour and an interview with Albert Einstein. His camera also caught many of the top sporting events of his time, from auto races at Daytona to major PGA tournaments to the Dallas-Green Bay “Ice Bowl” game in 1967. During his 41 years at CBS, he won six Emmy awards.
Herman Lang lived with his family in Glen Head from the 1960s until shortly before his death in 2006.
Lang’s niece, Kathryn Lang-Slattery has published a book about her uncle’s life: Immigrant Soldier: The Story of a Ritchie Boy. Ask for it at the Library Reference desk.
Herman Lang with his wife, Marjorie Marie Lang