John H. Lang

John Henry Lang
John H. Lang immediately after the sinking of USS Panay, December, 1937
Born	1899 Casselton, North Dakota
Died	1970
Buried	Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean
Allegiance	Canada and United States
Service/branch	Canadian Army, United States Navy
Years of service	1917-
Unit	Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) USS Panay (PR-5)
Battles/wars	World War I World War II
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom) Navy Cross

John Henry Lang (1899–1970) was an American who served with the Canadian Army in World War I and then with the United States Navy through World War II and the end of his career. He earned military awards and honors for heroic service from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan in the first half of the twentieth century.

John H. Lang was born in Casselton, North Dakota in 1899. He attended local schools in Felton, Minnesota and started working there.

In 1916 with the beginning of World War I, at the age of 17, Lang left North Dakota to enlist in the Canadian Army at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After service in England and France in the Canadian Engineers, Lang transferred to the Canadian Black Watch Infantry. He was seconded to the Royal Highland Regiment (the British Black Watch), with whom he participated in the Third Battle of Ypres in 1917 during World War I. He was awarded the British Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) for his actions in that engagement.

Upon his return from Europe at the end of the First World War, Lang enlisted in the United States Navy. Lang served for most of his navy career in the China Fleet, where he was Quartermaster in the ship's company of several gunboats. In the 1920s, he was awarded the US Navy Cross and the Japanese Order of the Chrysanthemum for his heroism during a combined Japanese/US naval operation on the Yangtze River against Chinese warlord forces. The Chinese had besieged the foreign diplomatic legations on the river.