Lt. Col. Anthony R. (Tony) Lentini, U.S. Army, retired, veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, passed away at age 93 on October 17, 2017.
Born Sept. 23, 1924, to Joseph Lentini and Vita Bonura Lentini in Kenner, LA., the second of five children, he was a serious, studious child who learned early on the value of hard work as he helped his family through the Great Depression.
He and a friend were hitchhiking back to LSU when they learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Tony signed up as an aerial gunner, completing 26 missions with the 643rd Squadron, 409th Bomber Group, 9th Air Force in Europe aboard A-20 Havoc and A-26 Invader attack bombers.
After the war he met and married the love of his life, Margaret Ellen Behlar Lentini, while attending Loyola University in New Orleans. He served as that school’s first ROTC Cadet Commander two years in a row before graduating and receiving a 2nd Lieutenant’s commission in the Regular Army as an Infantry officer. When the Korean War broke out, he was assigned to A Company, 19th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division, as a Platoon Leader of South Koreans drafted into emergency service off the street. They fought their way out of the Pusan Perimeter all the way through North Korea and were approaching the Yalu River when the Chinese invaded. He was later evacuated to Japan for treatment of frostbite and whipworms contracted during the fighting.
Returning from that war, he continued his Army career as a Military Police officer with assignments in Kansas, Georgia, Germany, Pennsylvania, Hawaii and Washington, D.C. His wife, Ellen, made every duty station—no matter how foreign or far flung—home to their growing family. His final military job was Legislative Liaison, working with the U.S. Congress on behalf of the Army, accompanying Senators and Congressmen on missions around the world. After retiring in 1967, he and his family returned to New Orleans where he became Director of the New Orleans Regional Office of the Veterans Administration, continuing his service to his military brothers and sisters. He retired in May 1994 with nearly 48 years of combined military and government service. He is by far the longest-serving VA Regional Director in the nation, with 28 years in that position.
Tony cared for his wife Ellen throughout her battle with brain cancer and was devastated when he lost her in 2007.
He is survived by children Anthony Jr. (wife Carolyn), a former oil executive; Arthur (wife Stephany), a lawyer and former Louisiana State Senator; Joseph (wife Kerry), a career law enforcement officer; Brian (wife Margie), a retired FAA Air Traffic Control District Manager; and Ellen, a New Orleans realtor; 11 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; his sister Rose Cole, sisters-in-law Blossom Lentini and Vivien Behlar and numerous nieces and nephews. Predeceased by parents Joseph and Vita Lentini, wife, Ellen, brother Salvador, sisters Jeanette Ackel and Emanuella Peraino.
Tony and Ellen taught their children well the virtues of patriotism, service, honor and integrity: Art recalls as a high school student asking his father to bring him a pen from the office as his had run out of ink. Tony’s response: “I can’t do that; it’s government property! I’ll buy you a pen.”
After surviving the Great Depression and two combat tours in two wars, Tony’s goal in life was to provide a better life for his family, defend the United States and keep faith with its military by helping veterans.
Mission Accomplished.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Service at Garden of Memories Funeral Home, 4900 Airline Drive in Metairie, LA on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 at 1:00 pm with a visitation beginning at 11:00 am. Interment will be in Garden of Memories Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donating to Fisher House, which provides travel and lodging support for the families of wounded military personnel and scholarships for military spouses and children, at http://www.fisherhouse.org or call 888-294-8560.

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