Sgt. Robert Bruce Luton

Battery C, 604th Artillery, 10th Mountain

Don Kelly, Sgt. Luton's nephew, sent us some stories Sgt. Luton had told him. Below is paragraph of information Sgt. Luton told Don, a synopsis of Sgt. Luton's military service, and Sgt. Luton's obituary.

"I do recall him telling me that he trained extensively with mules and never saw one over in Italy.  I also recall him telling of spending a night in a hollow and one of his guys going up topside to raid a potato field with the result of that guy getting shot through his dog tags and rolling back down the hollow into the fire with no injuries other than to his dog tags. Also at Camp Swift on maneuver he woke up with a rattler crawling along the edge of his fox hole, he cleared the foxhole clean over the top and past the one next to him."        --Don Kelly

Statement by Robert Bruce Luton as told to Craig Luton, date unknown. 

"I was inducted into the Army on January 20, 1943 at Mt. Vernon, WA.  Service number 39198992.  Went onto school at Ft. Lewis, WA. January 27, 1943 where I was in Battery 604 until February, then to Artillery, 10th Mountain Division.  From Ft. Lewis I went to Camp Carson, Co. in February 1943.  We walked From Camp Carson, Co. to Camp Hale, Co.- July 05-13, 1943 (180 miles). I was at Camp Hale until the first week of June 1944, then on to Camp Swift, TX.  In October 1944, we were sent to Camp Patrick Henry, Va. (Point of Entry).  We left from Hampton Rhodes, Va. in October 1944 on the USS General Meggs for Europe.  We landed in Algiers 13 days later.  Were there 1 to 2 weeks then on to Naples, Italy.  We then moved out to Riva, Italy (located on the north end of Lake Goude in the southern part of the Alps) on May 06, 1945.  Within a week we were moved to Terchialto, Italy (8-10 miles out of Trieste, Italy) in the Army of defense of ground taken around Trieste.  Was sent home from Florence, Italy on the Blue Ridge Victory, 13 days to Hampton Rhodes, Va., pulled into Sapahane on V. J. Day (September 02, 1945).  Then to Ft. Lewis, WA. where I was given a 30 day leave.  Don (Luton) and Mary (Don's wife) took me to Camp Carson, Co. where I shipped into M. P. Desk Seargent at Ft. Logan, Co. after a week then town patrol until December 03, 1945 when I was bussed home from Ft. Logan, Co.  I was Honorably Discharged on December 03, 1945."

Obituary of Robert "Bruce" Luton taken from an unknown Skagit County, Washington newspaper (Source: Hamilton 100 Years   page 361-362 Compiled by Carol B. Bates and James A. Bates. Proof reading has been done by Carol Bates and Jean Wagner. Setting to print has been done by Jumbo Jack's Inc., Audubon, Iowa.  Binding into hard backs has been done by Classic Book Binding, Des Moines, Iowa.)

Robert "Bruce" Luton, 69, died Monday, July 6, 1992, at his home in Arcata, CA.  Mr. Luton was born Oct. 27, 1922, in Hamilton where he lived until he entered the U.S. Army in January of 1942.  He served in the 10th Mountain Division in Italy during World War II. He was honorably discharged in December of 1945.  He married Grace Sholkers on May 3, 1948, in Reno, Nev.  They moved to Humbolt County, CA, in 1950 and lived in Arcata for the past 37 years.  Mr. Luton retired in 1986 after 25 years with the Simpson Timber Co. in Korbel, CA, so he could spend more time traveling, being with his wife and family, working in his woodshop and taking care of his yard. He is survived by his wife, Grace; four daughters and two sons-in-law, Melody Mackill of McKinleyville, CA, Holly and Jack Williams of Diamond Bar, CA, Harmony Redburn of Sacramento, CA, Tami and Dean Martin of Scotia, CA.; two sisters, Doris Smith and Mary Rea Vlahovich of Washington State; and eight grandchildren, Christopher, Michael, Gordon, Misty, Randi Jo, Rebecca, Lacie and Lyndsey. Memorials are suggested to Hospice of Humbolt Inc., P.O. Box 3611, Eureka, CA 95502 or the American Cancer Society Humbolt-Del Norte Unit, 2942 F. St., Eureka, CA 95501. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 9, at Sunny Brae Baptist Church, 555 Bayside Rd., Arcata, CA.  Visitation will be today and Wednesday at Pierce Mortuary Chapels/Paul Chapel, Arcata, Calif.