Veterans column: Newark's Luzio begins preparations for D-Day

Anthony Julius Luzio was born in Newark, Ohio, on May 6, 1919. His parents Cono and Angelina Luzio were Sicilian immigrants that raised five sons and a daughter in Newark. All of their sons served in World War II; however, Tony was the only son to participate in the invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

Tony, like most veterans, did not talk about his war experiences with his family, however, nine days before his death on March 19, 2007, he dictated to his daughter Suzanne memories of his war years. He was 87 years old at the time and in the family home on N. 26th Street. He told his daughter, “My memories are varied and still vivid!”

He was a student at Kent State University when, on Oct. 16, 1940, he registered for the draft. The five foot five inches, 145-pound Luzio was 21 years old. It didn’t take the army long to notice him; he was drafted on Dec. 24, 1940. He was inducted on Feb. 8, 1941, at Ft. Hayes in Columbus, ten months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. “My other three brothers were drafted too,” Tony remembered, “Wes the eldest in the Army Signal Corps stationed in England and North Africa, Joe in the Air Force stationed in Alaska and Johnny in the Navy stationed in the Pacific and Atlantic. Butch (Francis Luzio) enlisted in the Navy and served in the Pacific. My mother and sister worked in the war industry, making fuel cells.”

His recollection from his early days in the Army were not full of pomp and circumstance, “It was all miserable when I entered combat training. I was given a World War I uniform and a broom to use as a rifle! It was all hard but I was lucky that I was short. A foxhole for someone my size was easier to dig than the big guys. I also could fit in a pup tent where the tall guys weren’t covered in the rain, and there was lots of that!”

On June 12, 1943, Tony, now a Lieutenant, returned home and married Miss Edna Brown at St. Francis DeSales Catholic Church.  After their honeymoon, she joined him in Texas.

On Christmas Day 1943, Tony made the front page of the paper when the Newark Advocate featured the headline, “Local man serves as altar boy for Mass celebrated in the field.” The accompanying picture showed him acting as an altar boy on maneuvers in Louisiana with the Third Army.

In February 1944, the Luzio’s were thrilled to learn they were to be parents, but shortly after that, Tony received his orders overseas. “Edna and I made a pact to pray every day at 9:00 p.m., which we kept throughout my time in the service. I know I am here now because of the love and prayers she shared.”

Anthony Luzio along with thousands of other men were headed to England to prepare for the invasion of the European continent.

Doug Stout is the Veterans Project Coordinator for the Licking County Library. You may contact him at 740-349-5571 or dstout@lickingcountylibrary.org