By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
You may have watched the HBO series or read the book "Band of Brothers", but tonight you have a chance to hear stories from someone closely involved.
Missouri Western Director of Military and Veteran Services Chelsey Clark has invited George Luz Jr to Missouri Western.
Clark says Luz's presentation will give people an insight into the the Easy Company, which inspired the book and mini series.
"And specifically his father George Luz, whose one of the men of Easy Company," Clarke tells host of the KFEQ Hotline Barry Birr. "And so we get to see this, kind of insight, that the son of George Luz got to see with all these men, you know, growing up with them that of course none of us got to, so I'm very excited to bring this program to Missouri Western and share it with everyone."
Luz will present audio stories from men involved in the company, as well as letters from his father to each of the men.
Luz says it feels like an obligation to share the stories of the troop, remembering a Christmas card his mother got from one of the men that served with his father on Christmas shortly after the passing of his father, and what it said.
"Now it's up to you and all his friends to make sure he will never be forgotten," Luz explains. "And that's the relationship these men had, was it was a very personal relationship they carried with them all the way to the end."
Luz's presentation will include audio stories from members of the company, as well as letters exchanged between his father and the men. It will also be intertwined with his experiences knowing the men.
Luz says while he will have his experiences to intertwine in the presentation, this is a chance to hear the stories of the company from the actual people inside it.
"Whether it will be through audio, or in the case I've got some video of my father that I recently uncovered during Covid-19 in cleaning up I found an interview my dad had done with a local historian," Luz says. "And there was no other video of my dad talking about the war."
The presentation is free to attend and will be held on the Missouri Western Campus in Spratt 214 beginning at 6pm tonight.