Early Life
Mentz was born in New Orleans in 1920 but lived in Hammond, Louisiana, from 1928 until 1982. He was awarded a scholarship to Tulane University at the age of 16 and in 1941 graduated with distinction with a B.A. from Tulane University. During college he was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and played clarinet in the Tulane University Band from 1937 to 1941; he remained a jazz-o-phile for the rest of his life. He then received an LL.B. in 1943 from the Louisiana State University Law School, where he was a member of the law review.
Upon graduation from law school in 1943, Mentz immediately enlisted as a private in the Army. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and in central Germany as an Alpha Bravo weapons specialist, was promoted to Sergeant, and served his country until honorable discharge in late 1945. He was awarded two Battle Stars and the Bronze Star. His battalion and company liberated vital strategic sectors and several concentration camps during World War II. After the war he served in the JAG Corps. Upon return from Europe, he working in private practice in Hammond, Louisiana, and as a staff attorney of the Shell Oil Company from 1947 to 1948, He then served Louisiana as Special Counsel to the Democratic Party-controlled state senate at the request of Governor Earl Long. From 1954 to 1961, Mentz was city attorney for Hammond, Louisiana.
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