For those of you who live near Troy, Michigan, you will want to put June 19 on your calendar. This is when George Luz, Jr. will be giving a presentation about his dad, George Luz, and the experiences of the other men of Easy Company, 506th PIR 101st Airborne Division beginning in August 1942 in Toccoa, Georgia. One of the guests on a recent Band of Brothers Tour was Michael Daniels. He heard George give this presentation while on tour. He was so impressed that he contacted Debi Hollis at The Michigan WWII Legacy Memorial and suggested that she invite George to speak.
The presentation includes photographs, stories and personal letters along with some rare audio of the men who were depicted in Stephen Ambrose’s book, Band of Brothers, and the HBO miniseries produced by Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg.
George’s journey began when he was 9 years old in 1965 at the 101st Airborne Division Reunion at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. For over 53 years, he has been blessed to spend the time with these men, their wives and their children. As we say good bye to each and every one of them, he feels it is his honor and privilege to share their stories.
A Son’s Remembrance of His Father
For those of you who do not live in the Troy area, we are delighted to share “Through My Father’s Eyes,” a video by George Luz, Jr. about his father. George originally shared stories of his father, who was a paratrooper with the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, with his local PBS station in Rhode Island in an episode called “Hometown Hero.”
A Pillar of Easy Company: George Luz
“One of the pillars of Easy Company,” was how Major Richard Winters described him. George Luz was born into a large Portuguese-American family in Fall River Massachusetts on June 17, 1921. Moving with his family to Rhode Island in search of work, Luz quit school in his junior year to help his parents and eight siblings make ends meet during the Great Depression. Incensed as many Americans were by the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Luz enlisted in the Army and, attracted by its elite status and the extra 50 dollars a month jump pay, volunteered for the newly formed airborne forces. Ordered to Camp Toccoa, Georgia, Luz arrived at the newly created home of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment to begin what he would later call, “the best three years of my life.”
Travel on the Band of Brothers Tour
All of our Original Band of Brothers tours sold out in 2019 so it is not too early to book for 2020!
“This was absolutely the trip of a lifetime. Chris Anderson, George Luz, Jr. and Henny (our great driver) made the tour truly unforgettable. Every day was a new adventure for me and my wife – – made even more special by the personal experiences relayed to us by Chris and George because of their friendships with the men of Easy Company (and George’s stories of his dad).” Curt Vaughan
