'Tangible symbol' of remembrance for those who served

NORFOLK

A dog tag. A wristband. A monument on a military base.

George Lutz wore the jewelry and visited the memorials, but he felt they fell short of properly honoring troops killed in service to their country.

"What I didn't find," he said, "was that one tangible symbol."

Lutz created a flag to capture that spirit. He did not have to look far for motivation - his son, Army Cpl. Tony Lutz, died in combat in December 2005.

On Monday afternoon, about 100 family members, veterans and supporters gathered at MacArthur Memorial in downtown Norfolk.

Lutz unveiled a new flag to honor and remember troops killed in combat and other service. He hopes the flag - a red-and-white field with a gold star and red flame - will become a national symbol flown alongside the stars and stripes.

Lutz has started an online petition at

www.honorandremember.org to persuade the Department of Defense to officially adopt the flag. He wants to gather 1.6 million signatures, roughly the number of service members killed since the birth of the country, he said.

So far, he's netted about 1,000 supporters by visiting veterans groups and through word of mouth, he said. For service members killed in all the country's wars, he said, "we haven't had anything like this."

A similar lobbying effort won congressional recognition for the black banner commemorating Vietnam prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action, he said.

Tony Lutz grew up in Chesapeake and graduated from Atlantic Shores Christian School, where he ran track. He attended college, got married and found a calling in the Army.

Six weeks into his first deployment to Iraq, Lutz went on a mission outside the volatile town of Fallujah. A sniper's bullet killed him. Lutz, 25, left behind a wife and two young children.

"I didn't ever regret that he went," said his mother, Patty Lutz. "He told me, 'Don't worry. If I die, I know I'm going to heaven.' "

Ter i Lutz, his grandmother, wore a

T-shirt and baseball cap with the new flag. She also wore a dog tag bearing her grandson's name and photo around her neck. She remembered his good humor and the ease with which he made friends.

"He loved everyone," she said. "He was my buddy."

Monday's ceremony drew U.S. Rep. Thelma Drake, R-2nd District, and several active duty and veteran GIs. Veterans donned their unit hats and red poppies. Four soldiers from Old Dominion University presented the colors.

Army Master Sgt. Richard Burnette, a wounded Iraq war veteran, told the audience that young men and women do not join the armed forces for glory. "They join for many different reasons," Burnette said. "We reap the benefits of their sacrifices."

At the end of the gathering, Lutz pulled the banner slowly up the flagpole. A bagpiper played "Amazing Grace."

Louis Hansen, (757) 446-2322, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com