Charles Ewen Lutz Jr.

In 1948, his first assignment after basic training was to Rhein/Main Air Base, Frankfurt, Germany. The Berlin Airlift was in full swing and Chuck was a young Airman who trained as a Flight Engineer and helped keep the Douglas C-54’s mission ready. These American and British cargo planes ferried vital life-sustaining supplies into surrounded West Berlin during the Cold War days. The highways and railroads in and around Berlin were closed by the Russians. In response, America and British leaders ordered around-the-clock C-47 and C-54 missions to keep West Berlin alive.

When the vaunted "Big Lift" or, in German, the Luftbruecke ended, the U.S. became heavily involved in the situation in Korea. Sergeant Lutz and many others were shipped to Japan-foe missions into Korea during this trying time. He is the recipient of the Air Medal for service in both the Berlin Airlift and the Korean Conflict campaigns. Chuck also had a brief stint serving in Vietnam and received recognition for his service there.

He was born on December 31,1930 in Philadelphia, PA and grew up in Allentown, PA. He graduated from Allentown High School in 1948 as a varsity athlete on the boxing and wrestling teams. As the lightest boxer on the team and, because of his size and speed, Chuck was the only undefeated team member in his senior year. He credited the discipline taught by athletics to his dedication and toughness in pursuing his next challenge, a career in the U.S Air Force.

After stepping away from the military for a brief period, he met French-born wife, Christiane Prevot. It was a two-month courtship, a marriage, and back to the Air Force. They spent 66 years as a loving couple and provided daughter Monica with experiences as a military-family member. Christiane, who died in 2020, left a large hole in Chuck’s heart.

Some of his early Air Force assignments besides Germany, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam was with the Air Force One Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. He was a Maintenance Technician, Flight Engineer, and Maintenance Chief for the planes responsible for ferrying Presidents Kenney and Johnson during his six years at Andrews.

During an assignment in Tripoli, Libya, and later in Madrid, Spain, Chuck accidentally found his direction toward a second career: broadcasting. Chuck hung up his Chief Master Sergeant uniform in Spain in 1973, thinking the family would settle there. However, his five-year radio hobby gave him the chance to move to another career at the American Forces Network Europe in Frankfurt, Germany in 1974.

Chuck became one of the network’s regular anchors on radio and television news broadcasts, winning Departments of the Army and Defense Department broadcast awards.

Chuck returned to the U.S. in 1983 and became an editor and account representative for the Tactical and Air Combat Command’s Publications Management Office at Langley, Air Force Base, VA.

Retiring from the civil service in 1998 after 50 years of dedication to our nation, Chuck became a contractor with the Air Force Experimentation Office (AFEO). Serving as a public-affairs officer, he was instrumental in making our government and military services aware of the mission of the fledgling Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment (JEFX); exploring new methods of war-fighting in the twenty-first century.

After nearly two years of producing print, audio, and video messages articulating the AFEO's mission, Chuck decided it was time to "gear down." He retreated to his Williamsburg, VA home where, with skills lovingly taught by his highly-educated, beautiful, and talented wife Christiane, he pursued still other outlets: sous chef and assistant gardener to a most skilled mentor and manager.

An avid reader of history, philosophy, and science-oriented literature all of his adult life, his diverse interests included astronomy, a love of opera (prompted by his wife), classical and jazz music.

Anyone who has been around him more than two minutes knows he has a quick wit and tongue plus a sense of humor. Chuck also knew that humor is the “perfume of life” that makes our existence bearable. He managed to find it in nearly everything. He often quoted Mark Twain who observed that he never let his schooling interfere with his life’s education.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.NelsenWilliamsburg.com.