Jack Alexander Gertz – Colonel, United States Marine Corps

From a contemporary press report:

Jack Alexander Gertz, 83, a former Washington bureau chief for the old Mutual Broadcasting Co. who became a public affairs officer at American Telephone & Telegraph Co., died of kidney failure December 16 at his home in Potomac, Maryland.

He worked at MBC from 1954 to 1959 before joining the Federal Aviation Administration for three years as chief of its public affairs office. He then worked at AT&T from 1961 until he retired in 1985 as executive director of public affairs and media relations.

Mr. Gertz was born in Chugwater, Wyoming, and was a newspaper and radio reporter in Denver in the 1930s. From 1951 to 1953, he worked at the State Department in the South Pacific as a public affairs director and then a vice counsel.

During World War II, he served with the Marine Corps in the Pacific theater. He retired from the Marine Reserve as a colonel in the early 1990s.

He served on the National Commission for Employment Policy in the 1980s and was on the board of Columbia Hospital for Women. He was a member of the National Press Club, Army and Navy Club, White House Correspondents Association, Radio-Television News Directors Association, Sigma Delta Chi journalism fraternity and the International Club.

Survivors include his wife of 51 years, Dorothy O. Gertz of Potomac; a daughter, Kathryn J. Zugby of Oakton; three grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; a brother; and three sisters.

GERTZ, Col. JACK A. (Age 83)

On December 16, 1999, at his residence, beloved husband of Dorothy O. Gertz (nee Quall); devoted father of Kathryn J. Zugby of Oakton, VA; loving grandfather of three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren; dear brother of Milton Gertz of Denver, CO, Sarah Dawson of Denver, CO, Diamond Blumberg of Whittier, CA, and Ida G. Cohen of Rancho Mirage, CA. Also survived by several nieces and nephews. Services will be held at the Ft. Myer Chapel, Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, December 30, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, please make     donations to the American Diabetes Association, 1211 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036, or the Montgomery Hospice, 1450 Research Blvd., Suite #310, Rockville, MD 20850.

Michael Robert Patterson

Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.

Reviewed by: Michael Howard