Page 10 - Desert Lightning News August 2016

10 August 5, 2016
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WWII veteran retires after 70 years ofFacebook.com/DesertLightningNews military, civil service
Liz Jacobson
U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa Public A airs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AFNS) -- is September, Anthony
“Tony” Duno will celebrate his retirement from the Air Force after 70 years
of service, making him the longest serving civilian in Air Force history.
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James recognized Duno’s accom-
plishments during a ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., July 22.
“Mr. Duno is just a remarkable, remarkable public servant,” James said.
“Tony teaches all of us life is about hard work, it’s about service, but most
importantly, it’s about the people. He truly epitomizes our core values of
integrity first, service before self and excellence in all that you do.”
Duno has come a long way from being a reluctant World War II recruit from
the Bronx, New York. Dressed in an elegant three-piece suit and a Burberry scarf
for the ceremony, Duno eagerly and passionately shared his life story.
Born into an Italian-American family, Duno was drafted in 1944 at the
age of 18 into the 379th Infantry Regiment to fight under the command of
Gen. George S. Patton. at was the beginning of a lifelong career that no
one, including Duno, could have imagined.
“I had no ability of going into the military,” Duno said. “I think I weighed 115
pounds, if that. I had no interest in the Army, but they said it didn’t matter.”
Although the military was not his original plan, Duno held his own at
basic training and found that the military lifestyle suited him.
“One incident I remember vividly was in West Virginia in the winter
time (for training maneuvers),” he recalled. “ ey wanted us to complete a
trek through the mountains. ey handed me my rucksack, which was 60
or 70 pounds, which was way over my limit, but I made it work. I started
quite the commotion because the other guys couldn’t complete the run and
the leadership was yelling, ‘If the Yank can make it, why can’t you?’”
Duno had big plans for his career in the military after receiving a com-
mission from the commanding officer, but when troops deployed to Ger-
many, all commissions were cancelled. However, he ended up joining what
Duno called “one of the best outfits in the history of mankind.”
While on active duty, Duno served in the Normandy campaign and the
Battle of the Bulge, and was assigned to the Nuremberg Trials.
“I really believe the Battle of the Bulge was the most important, severe point of times” in England and how he even saw Ava Gardner once in the officer’s club. Duno
the war. It was so extraordinary because so many things happened that had never
happened before,” Duno recalled, referencing the surrenders of the enemy during
the bloodiest battle of the war. “ e Nuremberg Trials were also extraordinary,
because seeing it all take place made me question what the hell was going on.”
Duno later received the French Legion of Honor for his contributions
to campaigns in France during WWII. His daughter, Nancy, remembered
how his family lovingly called him “Sir Anthony” for a couple of weeks.
Following the war, Duno left the Army, only to serve as the Air Force’s
real estate agent, working in residual values. is was a department that
handled the sales of leased property back to local governments.
Over the course of his career, he was personally involved in the entire Air Force
post-Cold War base drawdown. He was requested by name to testify before Con-
gress on European leasing issues in 1991, and he was described as a significant con-
tributor in infrastructure development projects by the secretary of the Air Force.
e Cold War put Airmen in a situation to go back to Europe. However, the ser-
vice members arrived with more this time: ey took their families with them.
“It was a complete disaster. What were we going to do with all of these
families?” Duno recalled.
In order to accommodate the service members’ dependents, Duno was
instrumental in negotiating the sale of “tobacco houses.” ese were the first
housing developments for dependents at military bases in England. e Brit-
ish government remodeled out-of-use tobacco factories for housing.
“Later, as our bases developed and we didn’t have a need for the prop-
Desert Lightning News
(U.S. Air Force photo/Scott M. Ash)
Anthony Duno retires after 70 years of federal service during a ceremony at the Pentagon in
Washington D.C., July 22, 2016. Duno spent most of his career in Europe, managing real estate
issues for the U.S. Air Force.
erty, we sold (it) back,” Duno said.
He is credited with leading facility turnover and residual value negotia-
tions with host nations for closures of Torrejon Air Base, Spain; Rhein-Main
AB, Germany; and bases in Morocco, Turkey, Greece and Italy. From start to
finish, most projects took about seven or eight years. e Comiso AB, Sicily,
project alone took five years to negotiate with the Italian Ministry of Defense.
It was Duno’s dedication that earned him a reputation for getting the job
done. He fondly recalls being told during one negotiation, “It’s guys like you
that make my job so damn difficult.”
As he nears retirement, Duno remembers and is thankful for his family
throughout his career.
“I don’t know how I could have done this all without my family. It’s not
easy. It’s really a challenge to move so often, to move all of those treasured
things. My wife and I moved close to 30 times in 50 years of marriage. She
did it all with grace and just said it was a big adventure.”
While Duno is looking forward to retirement, he says he will miss going into work
every day and “bringing home the bacon” for his country.
“ e Air Force was my life. I will deeply miss all the comrades, all the
friends I’ve known. I was joyful, spending time with both the Army and the
Air Force. I will miss the sense of taking care of your people, and I found that
to be so interesting and joyful,” he said. “I still feel like I can contribute. I will
miss every bit of it because it’s something that has become part of me.”
Now the longest serving Air Force civilian, Duno revels in his accomplishment.
“I’m proud of it. I really am, because it gives me so much pleasure to help,”
he said. “ is has been my whole life. It’s been a challenge, residual values,
but when you do get the money, you can use it to support the mission.”
Duno shared stories about the early days of Ramstein AB, his first barbecue with
his troops, how many “big guys” he’d befriended, including Gen. Mark A. Welsh III,
who wrote him a personal letter just last year. Duno fondly remembers the “jolly good
keeps a chest filled with keepsakes and mementos from his life, such as foreign cur-
rencies, photographs, newspaper articles and Christmas cards. One of those Christ-
mas cards is from Patton -- a man who, Duno says, used more curse words than
anyone else, adding 25 new words to Duno’s already colorful Bronx vocabulary.
Slowing down doesn’t seem to be in the cards for Duno, as he heads to-
ward retirement in New Hampshire.
Duno -- a man who came from humble beginnings, was born in the “Roar-
ing ‘20s,” watched the influence of the Great Depression, and fought in a world
war at just 18 years of age -- shared a few words of wisdom that he lives by.
“I have a philosophy that is very simple,” he said. “Don’t eat too much,
easy on the alcohol and take a walk.”