Most Americans know the men of Easy Company through the actors who played them. On Oct. 22, you can hear from the son of an Easy Company paratrooper, who will share untold stories.
The Fort Campbell Historical Foundation and the Tennessee Wings of Liberty Museum will host a special Jack Turner Speaker Series event, “Through My Father’s Eyes,” at 4 p.m. in the Museum Atrium. George Luz Jr., son of Easy Company paratrooper George Luz Sr., will share rare photos, personal letters and audio recordings of the soldiers made famous by the book and HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, telling their stories in their own voices.
George Luz Sr.: Man who kept them laughing
George Luz Sr. joined Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, in August 1942 and trained at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. The 506th later joined the famed 101st Airborne. He served from the D-Day jump into Normandy through some of the hardest fighting of the war in Europe. Among his fellow paratroopers, he was known less for rank than for humor. His quick wit and knack for impressions lifted spirits in the worst conditions and helped hold the company together. As Lt. Jack Foley put it at a 2002 reunion, “Every company needed a George Luz!” Luz himself later called his years with E Company, from 1942 to 1945, the best three years of his life.
Viewers of the HBO series may remember Luz as the company’s resident comedian, played by actor Rick Gomez. Luz Jr. flew to the set in England to meet Gomez and attended the series’ world premiere on Utah Beach on June 6, 2001…