SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman Scott Wilk, R- Santa Clarita, honored Lloyd “Lou” Lubensky of Santa Clarita as the 38th Assembly District's “Veteran of the Year.”
“Veterans like Lou made countless sacrifices to allow people like you and I to enjoy the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted,” Wilk said. “Recognizing Lou as Veteran of the Year reminds us of the valiant effort our veterans have accomplished to protect our nation, defend our liberty and leave behind a safer and freer world.”
Lou Lubensky mobilized into active service in December 1940 with the Missouri National Guard 138th Infantry Regiment. He then transferred to the Army Air Corp. in May, 1941 and received cadet training at Kelly Field in Stamford, Texas. Lubensky was commission and received wings in Lubbock, Texas in 1942 when he was only 19.
Throughout his career Lou piloted 70 missions in the B26 Marauder in support of the allied troops in France, was part of the 322nd Bomb Group and piloted 2 missions over Normandy on D-Day and Lou performed a perfect landing while saving the well-known B-26 “Patches” when the hydraulic system was shot out on February 29, 1944 during one of his missions. Lubensky was also one of the outstanding pilots with the widely acclaimed bomb group called “Nye Annihilators,” the first American bombardment group to attack Nazi targets in force at night. Some military awards Lou acquired over the years were the 13 Oak Clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Lou returned to civilian life in 1946 with the rank of Captain.
Following his service, Lou graduated from UCLA and received a degree in Accounting. He went on to owning a manufacturing company that specialized in aircraft parts, such as dive breaks for F89 aircrafts, wing leading edges for PBY and parts for the Apollo 1 for NASA. Lubensky also served on the Board of Directors for Gulfstream. His passions are his family, aircrafts and tennis.