In honor of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima, Providence Academy –  a Pre-K–12 “classical Christian school” located at 800 Buckley Road – invited World War II veteran and Purple Heart recipient Ken Luttrell to share his story with the school community on March 5.

Luttrell, currently 101 years old, joined the Marines at age 18 and served as a Marine in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The St. Louis native and his team were in the first wave of the amphibious assault of Yellow Beach, with Motoyama Airfield as their objective. On February 21, 1945, while Luttrell was setting up a 20-foot naval telescoping radio antenna, he was hit by a piece of shrapnel, leading him to be honorably discharged a few months later.

“A piece of that entered my left cheek and penetrated the entire face. It came out on the right side, taking with it practically all but six of my teeth,” Luttrell said. “It just generally tore out the inside of my mouth.”

Following Luttrell’s brief presentation on his time in the service, the floor was opened to the audience for questions. As many students had relatives who also served in World War II, they were curious if Luttrell knew them. Other questions focused on how he felt after he found out the war was over, his opinions on later U.S. conflicts/wars and why he decided to join the Marines. One student even asked about the taste of Spam – a canned lunch meat popular during the war – to which Luttrell replied: “It tastes a lot like ham, but you couldn’t help but think that it was something else.”

At the close of the event, attendees were able to shake hands with Luttrell, thanking him for his service. Signed bookmarks were also available to take as keepsakes.

“This (was) a real honor and privilege,” Kyle Keating, the dean of Providence’s upper school, said.