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Saluting Our Veterans and My Dear Friends Frank and Nell Lutz

Posted: Nov 11, 2010

Today is Veterans Day--a day on which we pay tribute to all those who served this country in the armed services. Today is especially meaningful to me because it gives me an opportunity to honor two of my favorite World War II veterans: my long time friends and erstwhile neighbors Frank and Nell Lutz. World War II ended in 1945. That was sixty-five years ago. Most living veterans of WWII are in their nineties. Frank Lutz just celebrated his 99th birthday on October 4.

Veterans Day began as Armistice Day and the day was set aside to as a day of world peace to commenorate the signing of the peace treaty after WW I. In 1954, after having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress -- at the urging of the veterans service organizations -- amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice"  and inserting the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars from the Revolutionary War to Operation Enduring Freedom (in Afghanistan).

My great-grandfather enlisted in the Confederate Army when he was only nineteen. My own friends served and several of them of them died in Vietnam when they were about the same age. Millions of other brave Americans served in Korea, in the Middle East, and in various countries of the world. Today we pay tribute to them all.

I am fortunate to have two fabulous friends who met one another while in the Navy during World War II over sixty-five years ago: Nell and Frank Lutz. Nell is not yet a nonagenarian, but Frank, who celebrated his 99th birthday in October of this year, will soon become a centenarian. ((photo of Frank and Nell  at Saturday's Veterans Day Parade in Athens, AL)

Today cities across America will hold parades to honor our veterans. The city of Athens, Alabama, held its Veterans Day Parade this past Saturday. Frank served as Honorary Grand Marshall of the parade. A few days before the parade, Nell called me excitedly to say that she could still fit in her Navy jacket from sixty-seven years ago. I wish I could fit in anything from seven years ago.

In a 2009 post about my nonagenarian friends, I wrote "Frank still dresses in crisp chinos and insists on walking me to the car and holding open the door. His mind is like a steel trap, and I wish I could siphon all that he knows into my little brain. Frank’s wife of over sixty years, Nell, is the queen of Elk River fisher(wo)men, a computer whiz, and a gourmet cook. She knows a dozen ways to prepare bream (pronounced brim). Nell, who is still in her eighties, was a WAVE during WW II. " On April 25th of 2009, Nell flew to Washington DC to be honored along with other veterans at the WW II Memorial.

Frank and Nell, who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in August, have three children: Ruth Lutz Whitten of Athens, Tom Lutz of Nashville, and Dr. Brobson Lutz of New Orleans. Their eldest son Brobson has been the subject of several of my blogs including Possum Tales and the New Orleans Journals.

Frank and Nell are my heroes--along with such amazing nonagenarians as my friends Eunice Hutchinson who never misses a party on Elk River, Louise Steele, and Lucille Johnson, and my colleague and mentor Dr. Elva McLin, who now resides in Austin, TX. These incredible individuals have much to teach those of us who have been on this earth for a far shorter time.

Soon I will be posting a feature article on Frank Lutz called "The New Nonagenarians: 99 and Still Looking for Challenges." The U.S. Census estimates there were 70,490 centenarians in the world as of Sept. 1, 2010. I look forward to Frank's becoming my first centenarian friend..

---Penne J. Laubenthal
Related Links
    Possum Tales and Other Southern Fare

   New Orleans Journal: Episode Two

    Ninety is the New Forty-Five

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