Paul Ritchlin says he stumbled over his words twice Thursday at Fort Logan National Cemetery, overcome by emotion while delivering a eulogy for Waymon Griffin.
But in the end, the 75-year-old Korean War veteran kept his promise to the man who co-founded the Veterans Honor Guard in the Denver area.
The pair agreed more than a decade ago to say the final words at services for whoever died first.
“It was tough but magnificent,” Ritchlin said of the military honors ceremony for “Grif.”
The ceremony was attended by about 80 veterans as well as Griffin’s family and friends.
Ritchlin, who considered Griffin his “brother,” made it through his tribute as reports from a rifle volley rang out.
Despite different war records, Ritchlin, a Navy petty officer who served in Korea, found common ground with his buddy, an Army sergeant in World War II.
Griffin, a Lakewood resident, had fought a decade before him, suffering three wounds in South Pacific combat.
They found common purpose in honoring others who served their country.
Together they helped stage memorials for veterans all across the metro area – and as far as Greeley and Castle Rock.
Their work filled a gap that, Ritchlin said, was left when the federal government stopped memorials in the 1980s.
The group Griffin co-founded has arranged more than 5,000 such tributes.
But to Ritchlin, who wore the group’s distinctive gray military cap, scarf and pants along with a blue blazer, none was more important than honoring his buddy.
He died Saturday at the Denver Veterans Affairs Hospital after several years of declining health.
“He was wounded three times. His body finally gave out,” Ritchlin said.
