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Robert "Benny" Lane
High School: Benny lettered Three (3) years, In his senior year (1937-1938) he was Captain of the
football team and was All-Conference ( All-Big Ten Conference) and All-State All-Southern, Captain of the West Coast All-Star, Captain of Florida All-Star and a guard for the Terriers. Upon graduation from high school in 1938, he was offered grant-in-aid football scholarships to the University of Georgia, Auburn University and the University of Florida where he enrolled in the fall of 1938. College: At Florida, he made the freshman football squad as a guard. He was then on the varsity team from 1938 to 1942. In his senior year, he was selected to the All-Southern Conference Team and received Honorable Mention on the All-American Team.
Military: After graduating from the University of Florida where he was a member of the ROTC, he was drafted into the Army. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant and served in the 25th Infantry Division in World War II. He was initially stationed in England before being transferred to the Pacific Theater. He earned the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His regiment served in the Liberation of Luzon in the Philippines where he earned a Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart. He was Regimental Commander in the Battle for Balete Pass in Luzon. He later served in the occupation of Okinawa and then on the mainland of Japan.
Personal: After being discharged from the Army in 1946, he settled back in Tampa and married Martha Bostwick. They had three children, two daughters and one son. He worked in the family dairy business for most of his life. Throughout his life, he a continued to be an avid supporter of both Hillsborough High School and the University of Florida.