Proclamation leads up to museum anniversary

Flanked by Westminster College President Fletcher Lamkin, left, and Tim Riley, director of the National Churchill Museum, new Fulton Mayor Lowe Cannell presented a proclamation Thursday making May 4 "1st Lt. John Frederick Lutz Day" as part of the 50th anniversary celebration planned May 3-4.
Flanked by Westminster College President Fletcher Lamkin, left, and Tim Riley, director of the National Churchill Museum, new Fulton Mayor Lowe Cannell presented a proclamation Thursday making May 4 "1st Lt. John Frederick Lutz Day" as part of the 50th anniversary celebration planned May 3-4.

Lowe Cannell performed one of his first duties as Fulton's new mayor Thursday by presenting a proclamation at the National Churchill Museum.

And he did it on Facebook Live, with the museum's manager of guest services, Tyler Oberlag, on video camera.

Also on hand were Tim Riley, director of the museum, and Fletcher Lamkin, president of Westminster College. About 25 history students from North Callaway High School also looked on a part of their museum tour.

"We're here to make a special announcement about one of Fulton's native sons," Riley said. "He served with the Eagle Squadron (during World War II) and was shot down on May 4, 1943."

Cannell presented a resolution proclaiming this May 4 "1st Lt. John Frederick Lutz Day."

"It's an absolute honor to present this," he said.

The proclamation recognizes Lutz, a 1936 graduate of Fulton High School, Boy Scout, athlete, president of his senior class, and one-year attendee of Westminster College. His path led him to California, Canada, and to the Royal Air Force at Debden Field in Essex, England.

Lutz crashed his failing plane into the English Channel and rescue personnel never found a trace of him or his airplane. He received the Air Medal and a Purple Heart, and his name was placed on the Tablets of the Missing in Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium. There also is an exhibit about him at the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, including his uniform.

"Lt. Lutz was one of Fulton's finest," Lamkin said. "To go to the Eagle Squadron was an act of bravery."

May 3-5 will be a 50th anniversary celebration of America's National Churchill Museum on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton, including the dedication of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. The church was built in Central London in 1181, rebuilt in 1672 by Royal Architect Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London, and burned again during the Germans' bombing of London in late 1940. In the early 1960s, it was carefully disassembled, and reconstructed on the Westminster campus - based on Wren's plans - to memorialize Churchill's 1946 speech at the college.

"This 50th anniversary weekend is designed to celebrate this extraordinary museum and commemorate the legacy of Winston Churchill," said Timothy Riley and Sandra and Monroe Trout, director and chief curator of the museum. "His leadership - and his statesmanship - continue to inform and inspire us today, just as they did when he visited here 73 years ago, just six months after the end of World War II."

Also on May 4, a World War II B-25 bomber will come to Fulton and will be available at the Fulton airport for viewing before and after it flies over the museum at the end of the 2:30 p.m. parade. People will be able to go up for paid rides, with funds benefiting the museum and the Commemorative Air Force, members of which are bringing the plane.

The flyover is in memory of Lt. Lutz and in memory of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942. In that event, 16 B-25 bombers were loaded on the carrier Hornet at Alameda, California and launched April 18, 1942. Due to an earlier than expected launch farther away from their target than they had planned, the pilots knew they might not have enough fuel to land safely. But, of the 80 crew members, 77 initially survived. Eight airmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China and three of them were executed.

The last survivor of the Doolittle Raiders, Lt. Col. Richard Cole, died April 9 at the age of 102.