James Phillip Lardner was the son of Ringgold (Ring) Wilmer Lardner(1885-1933) and and Ellis Abbott Lardner(1887-1960). He was the brother of John Lardner(1912-1960), Ring Lardner, Jr.(1915-2000), and David Lardner(1919-1944). He attended Harvard and was hired as reporter for the New York Herald Tribune. Lardner transferred to the Herald Tribune's Paris bureau in 1938, and began writing articles on the participation of American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. In March 1938 Lardner traveled to Barcelona in the company of fellow journalists Ernest Hemingway and Vincent Sheean to observe the conflict first hand. After witnessing an aerial battle that destroyed a bridge on the Ebro River and the dire state of the Loyalist forces, Lardner resolved to join the International Brigades. He enlisted in the Third Company of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade early in May, and in July he sustained shrapnel injuries during his first battle. After a month of hospitalization he was returned to active duty in the Sierra Pandols region near the Ebro. On September 23, 1938, on what was to be last day of fighting for the International Brigades, Lardner with two other men in his command were sent out to patrol a hill to the rear of his battalion. They encountered heavy enemy fire and Lardner did not return to camp. His death was confirmed several weeks later when a Nationalist correspondent reported that a body with foreign press credentials had been found in the location where Lardner was last seen. His body, which was discovered in fascist-controlled territory, was never recovered.
James Phillip Lardner was the son of Ringgold (Ring) Wilmer Lardner(1885-1933) and and Ellis Abbott Lardner(1887-1960). He was the brother of John Lardner(1912-1960), Ring Lardner, Jr.(1915-2000), and David Lardner(1919-1944). He attended Harvard and was hired as reporter for the New York Herald Tribune. Lardner transferred to the Herald Tribune's Paris bureau in 1938, and began writing articles on the participation of American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War. In March 1938 Lardner traveled to Barcelona in the company of fellow journalists Ernest Hemingway and Vincent Sheean to observe the conflict first hand. After witnessing an aerial battle that destroyed a bridge on the Ebro River and the dire state of the Loyalist forces, Lardner resolved to join the International Brigades. He enlisted in the Third Company of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade early in May, and in July he sustained shrapnel injuries during his first battle. After a month of hospitalization he was returned to active duty in the Sierra Pandols region near the Ebro. On September 23, 1938, on what was to be last day of fighting for the International Brigades, Lardner with two other men in his command were sent out to patrol a hill to the rear of his battalion. They encountered heavy enemy fire and Lardner did not return to camp. His death was confirmed several weeks later when a Nationalist correspondent reported that a body with foreign press credentials had been found in the location where Lardner was last seen. His body, which was discovered in fascist-controlled territory, was never recovered.
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