Second Lt. Philip Larimore’s service in World War II was punctuated by remarkable acts of bravery on the Southern Front of the European Theater of Operations but for years he kept his exploits to himself.
Capt. Philip Larimore, 1947
Larimore’s son Walt Larimore spent 16 years researching his father’s accomplishments before, during and after World War II, and he shares his discoveries in the book, At First Light: A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse.
“After my father passed away, we found over 450 of his letters. We found his exploits documented in a number of history books and archives,” Walt Larimore explained. “And after over 16 years of research, all that material coalesced into an amazing, almost unbelievable story about a forgotten teenage hero who fought on the Forgotten Front in Europe.”
The youngest graduate of the Army’s Officer Candidate School and one of the most decorated front-line junior officers in the war, Philip Larimore commanded a front-line platoon, shot snipers out of trees from 100 yards away, flew behind enemy lines into Czechoslovakia late in the war, completed a clandestine mission to save the Lipizzaner horses from Hitler’s clutches and became one of the youngest Company Commanders in the war.
After VE-Day, he developed a friendship with President Harry Truman and played bridge with General Ike Eisenhower, who succeeded Truman as president.
Walt Larimore
During his military service in World War II, his bravery did not go unnoticed.
He saw 413 days of front-line combat and was awarded three Purple Hearts, including one for losing his right leg in a desperate battle in the last month of the war.
“He never talked about those medals; he never talked about those battles,” his son Walt said. “And a lot of the men were like that. They fought for freedom; they fought for liberty. But when they came home, they wanted to live life.”
Larimore lost his right leg below the knee and used a prosthetic. He battled the U.S. War Department over its policy of not allowing amputee officers to continue in the Army.
The final courtroom testimony, uncovered in the U.S. National Archives, reads like the chilling trial scene between the characters played by Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson in the movie, A Few Good Men.
The book concludes with Philip Larimore’s connection with a war horse that he saved — and that saved him.
He eventually created a career at Louisiana State University, specializing in cartography – mapmaking – and he married and had four sons.
Capt. Larimore with the horse he loved
Since publication, At First Light has been awarded a Silver Medal by the Military Writers Society of America, was named a finalist by the International Page Turner Awards, was featured in the Louisiana Book Festival and led to the 2023 induction of Phil Larimore into the 3rd Infantry Division’s Hall of Fame.
As a result of the book, Larimore has been inducted into the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division Hall of Fame (alongside Generals Marshall, Eisenhower, and Ridgeway) and has been nominated for the U.S. Army’s Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, U.S. Army (Ret.) four-star general, former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and former Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan wrote: “This story is extraordinary: an almost forgotten hero, tough combat, tragic sacrifice, gripping aftermath, a marvelous horse, and an astonishing ending. Don’t miss reading this remarkable book.”
Walt Larimore is an internationally recognized family physician, an award-winning medical journalist, and a bestselling author of more than 40 books. He traveled to a dozen archives and military installations in eight U.S. states, England, France and Italy, and interviewed many soldiers (and their families) to research, document and write this epic narrative about his father and the countless men and women who fought on “the forgotten front” in southern Europe in World War II.
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For information, visit www.drwalt.com (click on the “At First Light” tab).