ENGLEWOOD —It’s been decades, but veterans Ralph Whitlock and Paul Skizinski both still vividly remember their time in the U.S. Navy.
It is for the sake of honoring veterans like them — and the stories they have to share — that Englewood resident Kay Woodward Howard and a network of friends, veterans, local organizations and businesses raised the money for the Englewood Veterans Memorial on the grounds of Englewood High School, 3800 S. Logan St.
The monument is 3 tons of Colorado rose granite engraved with the service seals of America’s five military branches and the message “They served to protect our freedom.” Whitlock and Skizinski were on the guest list for the formal dedication.
Howard hopes the memorial (installed near the school’s southwest entrance in December) will be a treasured part of the city for years to come.
“I don’t want to forget,” said Howard, an Englewood High graduate. “That’s why we have monuments: To remember what they did.”
Whitlock, 88, with historians in Douglas County, where he lives.
He was 17 when he volunteered for World War II and was assigned to the destroyer escort USS Halloran, a ship he was aboard when it was involved in battles including Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
On June 21, 1945, Whitlock remembered, the Halloran was struck by the remnants of a kamikaze plane that was shot down and exploded 75 feet from the side of the ship, killing four men. Unhurt, Whitlock helped a gravely wounded shipmate before going for help.
“I come in and corpsman says, ‘Where you hit, Whitlock?’ And I said, ‘I’m not.’ He says, ‘You’re crazy Whitlock! Where are you hit?'” the veteran recalled. “That’s when I realized I was covered in blood just from handling the guy.”
Skizinski, 74, enlisted in 1964. His passion for photography led to a post reviewing intelligence photographs from reconnaissance planes for the Navy. During one of three tours of duty during Vietnam, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier . On July 29, 1967, the Forrestal was rocked by explosions. Skizinski later found out an electrical malfunction caused a rocket to fire from a plane on the deck, causing a chain reaction of explosions and fire that claimed 134 lives.
“Ultimately, I spent time pulling body bags out of the holes in the deck,” Skizinski said. “I’ll never forget the men of the Forrestal.”
Howard initiated efforts to build the veterans memorial in her hometown three years ago. She received a huge boost from fellow 1959 Englewood High School graduate and retired Air Force Col. Douglas Hole, who, she said, donated $20,000 toward the estimated $48,000 cost.
She recently joined the board of (Skizinski is vice president) and said she hopes to organize annual Memorial Day events at the high school as well as look into ways to preserve local veterans’ stories at the city’s library.
The monument tells stories, too. It is surrounded by red, stone pavers engraved with the names of veterans. Retired Englewood High history teacher Daniel Barber, who was awarded a Purple Heart after being wounded in Vietnam, is there, as is Army Cpl. Brandon M. Kirton, a 2004 EHS alumnus killed in action in Afghanistan in 2011.
Englewood Mayor Randy Penn’s brother, Army Sgt. Edwin Allen Penn, was killed in Vietnam in 1968 and is remembered at the monument.
Englewood High Principal Jon Fore worked with Howard to incorporate the monument into the school’s , calling it an important, symbolic link between the students and the community. He was in the Marines for six years, and owns a paver, as well.
“The word ‘sacrifice’ comes to mind,” Whitlock said of the memorial. “Whether they were in combat or not, all of them sacrificed.”
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or twitter.com/RubinoJC
In memoriam
To read the stories of some of Englewood’s veterans, visit .
