“Having uncles and my father that all served in World War II, and my father-in-law and his brother, it gave me a sense of duty,” Sturtz said. “I felt like I was fulfilling that, but never have I felt the appreciation for that service as much as I have in the last five or 10 years.”

Things were different for Vietnam-era veterans. Fortunately, through such projects as the Brushy Creek Area Honor Flight and changing attitudes in society, veterans of all eras are finally receiving the appreciation once taken for granted.

A U.S. Army veteran, Sturtz flew on the Honor Flight out of Fort Dodge in May 2024. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for which he is grateful.

“Seeing the sites is fun, and having mail call — that was pretty special — but what I really enjoyed was meeting the other veterans,” Sturtz said.

Now a retired pharmacist, Sturtz grew up in the Stratford area and attended school there and in Duncombe before graduating with the Webster City High School Class of 1969.

It was a pivotal time in America. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon that summer. Credence Clearwater Revival released perennial pep assembly favorite “Proud Mary” for the first time. And in Vietnam, nearly 12,000 young U.S. soldiers died, making it the second most deadly year of the war.

Following graduation, Sturtz enrolled at Iowa Central Community College and took one year of classes that would help prepare him for pharmacy school.

“I was interested in pharmacy, and I had a couple of classmates that talked about pharmacy but never went in to it,” he said. “It piqued my interest.”

The following year he took advantage of a “guaranteed enlistment” program from the Army.

“I would be guaranteed the training, but the recruiter said he couldn’t guarantee the job,” he said.

Sturtz was 19 years old when he was inducted into the Army on Sept. 28, 1970, in Des Moines. That same day he was flown to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for basic training. Once basic was completed, he was transferred to San Antonio, Texas,, for pharmacy specialist training. His future beyond that remained an unknown.

“We found out that the class the year before us had all gone to Vietnam, so we were sweating that out,” he said. “But it turned out that it was two classes after us that ended up going to Vietnam.”

Instead, Sturtz got orders for Europe and would have time for one other big change in his life before shipping out. He and Mary, now his wife of more than 50 years, decided to get married back home in Webster City on May 8, 1971. She joined him a few months later at his new assignment in Italy.

Not only was Sturtz surprised to be assigned to Italy, he didn’t even realize that the U.S. had a military base there. But those were the years of the Cold War and the U.S. had a large presence in Europe.

“When I first got the orders, I said, ‘We have troops in Italy?'” he recalled.

As it turned out, there were approximately 10,000 U.S. troops stationed at Vicenza, Italy.

“I was attached to the 45th Field Hospital, which serves as medical support for the military and their families,” he said.

The hospital had 25 to 30 beds and a pharmacy staff of only five, but it soon became a close-knit group.

“I worked with two pharmacists and there were three technicians,” Sturtz said. “It was a good group of guys and we learned a lot from each other.”

It was also an incredible place to start a long and happy marriage.

“My wife, Mary, came over in August or September, 1971, and we were together in a couple different apartments,” he said. “We had no phone, no TV, and only Armed Forces Radio.”

While the couple has never returned to Italy, they made the most of their time there when they were young.

“We were there a total of 26 months,” he said. “We were able to travel around Europe on weekends in our 1959 Volkswagen Bug.”

They visited nearby Venice often and many other cities and sites throughout Italy.

Sturtz knows how fortunate he was to receive this assignment during a very dangerous period in American history.

“With some of the things that other people did, I felt very lucky,” he said. “I also felt a bit guilty; here I am in a fairly safe status. We went on alert status a couple of times when the Mideast was heating up or something, and we were part of NATO, so we knew we had a commitment to make.”

After his honorable discharge in July 1973, Sturtz enrolled in pharmacy school at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, graduating in 1977. He would work as a hospital pharmacist in West Union, as a community pharmacist in Humboldt, and for a group of pharmacies in Nebraska before purchasing his own store in Pocahontas in 1983.

“My dream coming out of pharmacy school in 1977 was to purchase my own store in 10 years,” he said. “It was fairly aggressive, and we were able to do it in six years.”

In addition to pharmaceuticals, Sturtz’s pharmacy in Pocahontas offered gifts and books.

“My wife Mary is a great reader and loved books, so we started ‘Mary’s Book Shelf’ and carried a number of books. Eventually we began to focus on Christian books and gifts.”

Now retired, Sturtz and his wife make their home at Twin Lakes. Looking back, he is glad to have served.

“I would recommend joining the military,” Sturtz said. “It’s not for everyone, but it was a rewarding experience.”