David Lottman Is May Veteran Of The Month

Written by Doug KapkeJefferson County Commissioners posthumously honored May’s Veteran of the Month, David Lottman. He was originally to be Veteran of the Month in 2023 but passed away before it could happen. The Veteran Services Office spoke to Lottman’s family and it was decided to name him Veteran of the Month in April, the anniversary of his death. Lottman spent his early years in Endicott, Nebraska where his father operated a filling station. At age 10 the family purchased a restaurant in Diller. It was a family business, so Lottman spent a good share of his time working in the restaurant. David’s dad also raised bucket calves, so Lottman’s morning and evening chores consisted of feeding calves. Since the family lived in the same building as the restaurant, Lottman had no trouble developing good work ethics at an early age.Lottman completed grade school in Diller and graduated from Diller High School in 1964. One week later he was working for the Rock Island Railroad and continued this work until being drafted into the Army in June, 1966. Basic Training lasted three months at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Advanced Individual Training (AIT) was at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. While in AIT, Lottman applied for Officer Candidate School (OCS), was accepted and immediately began training to be an officer. About one month into training, Lottman did not think becoming an officer was worth having to spend an extra year in the military and dropped out of OCS. He was placed on “In and Out” status as a clerk until June, 1967, when he received orders for Vietnam. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 11th Artillery Unit. 23rd Group, American Division located at Buc Pho just outside Chu Lai, South Vietnam. Private Littman was on replacement duty and while in Vietnam performed the duties of driving trucks, driving officers, burning fecal material and standing guard. The first several weeks in Vietnam he never saw a weapon, their base camp was a dried up rice paddy, they had no perimeter protection and they frequently experienced night skirmishes. On one occasion when he was driving to pick up an officer who needed to return from a temporary duty assignment he was not allowed to have a weapon and was caught in the middle of an enemy ambush. At this point, if this was how the military operated, one less year in the Army seemed like a really good decision. Personnel Specialist (E-5) Lottman was released from active duty in May, 1968. He received the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal, two overseas service bars, Vietnam Service Medal and a Sharpshooter M-14 Medal. Lottman worked several short term jobs before finally going into the construction business. He remembered taking down several houses in Fairbury along with a three story building at the southwest corner of the square that now is a small park. In 1975, Lottman and a brother-in-law bought into Lottman’s brother’s business and they mostly did concrete work associated with hog farrowing and finishing barns. They accomplished this work by themselves with two hired men. In about 1980 they did the concrete foundation and flat work for the Fairbury Wal-Mart, Marysville, Kansas Wal-Mart and five Wal-Mart stores in Missouri.At some point in the concrete construction business, they invested heavily in concrete laser screeds, became the largest rental fleet business of its kind in the United States, grew the business to 150 employees and worked all across the United States.In 2010, Lottman began working with his son in the construction business and continued this partnership until 2016 when he semi-retired. He said he retired in 2016 but remained on call to help his son when needed to take down old 80 foot to 115 foot concrete elevators with wrecking balls or any other project that happened along. Lottman managed land his family invested in years ago, was a life member of the American Legion and the VFW since 1968, was a Quilt of Valor recipient, served on the Jefferson County Veterans Committee, but what he liked best was being a member of the American Legion Riders and an honorary SoCal Patriot Guard Riders. He was often found on his bike honoring deceased veterans and their families locally the day of funerals, but over the years he also escorted the Veterans Living Wall, the Memorial Monument honoring the 5th Marines lost in Iraq and others. His wife, Leana of 55 years, shared his love of bike riding and once flew to Los Vegas, Nevada to join Lottman for part of the escort and for the long ride home.Sadly, David Lottman died April 8, 2023, while in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. He will be greatly missed.

Lyle Olson

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