AIR FORCE CALLS RETIRED ARMY MAJOR, 92.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY

Luke Guernsey pushed all his suits, jackets and overcoats aside until he reached the last hanger in his closet.

He unzipped a plastic suit bag, took out his old World War II uniform that had been in mothballs about 60 years, and put it on.

The 92-year-old retired Army major had been ordered to report for duty again.

Not by Uncle Sam this time. By his granddaughter, Brittney Perkowski.

She was graduating as a second lieutenant from the U.S. Air Force Academy in a few weeks and wanted her grandfather to swear her in at her commissioning ceremony.

"Could you wear your old uniform, Grandpa?" she asked him on the phone from Colorado Springs, Colo.

"If I can still get into it, Honey, you bet I will," Luke said.

A few minutes later, he stood in front of the bedroom mirror in his Encino home smiling at what he saw -- and feeling pretty good about himself.

After moving a few buttons around, retired Army Maj. Luke Guernsey could still get into it.

Last month, this man who commanded a battery of 90 mm guns at the Battle of Saipan in the Pacific proudly stood on a Colorado Springs stage in the uniform that Uncle Sam issued him in 1942 to swear his granddaughter into the Air Force in 2007.

"As soon as Grandpa finished the oath, he yelled out, 'We did it,' and pumped his fist in the air," Brittney said this week en route to joining her Air Force operations management unit in Texas.

"Everyone in the auditorium laughed and applauded. I gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I was crying. I was just so proud to be his granddaughter."

And he was proud to be her grandfather, Luke said at 11 a.m. Wednesday in 90-plus-degree heat after stepping off a tennis court at Balboa Park, where he had just played doubles for an hour with his buddies.

"I told 'em we should have started at 7 a.m. because it was going to be hotter than hell, but they wanted to stay in bed," he said -- and laughed.

Tennis and daily walks have kept him fit enough to get into that old Army uniform he's kept stashed in the back of his closet all these years, Luke said.

"I'm a saver. I just don't get rid of things. When I got home from the service after 5 1/2 years on active duty, I put it into the closet and never wore it again until Brittney asked me.

"I'm so proud of her. She was a great soccer player in high school and had athletic scholarship offers from five colleges, and chose the Air Force Academy."

Both her grandfathers had served their country in war, and their commitment weighed in her decision, Brittney said.

Luke told her she would be facing the biggest challenge of her young life, but she'd learn all about sacrifice and discipline, and she'd gain friendships that would last forever.

"My best friends in life were the men I served with on Saipan," Luke said Wednesday, putting his old uniform back in the closet just in case he needed to report for duty again.

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

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Retired U.S. Army Maj. Luke Guernsey stands proudly with his granddaughter, 2nd Lt. Brittney Perkowski. He recently swore her in at the commissioning ceremony upon her graduation from the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.