The Littleton World War II Memorial

The Littleton World War II Memorial was dedicated on November 11, 2000. It is located in Ketring Park, 6000 S. Gallup St., Littleton, Colorado

History of the Littleton World War II Memorial

In the summer of 1995, the City of Littleton invited veterans of World War II and their families to a barbecue to commemorate the war's end 50 years before. From that meeting grew the Coordinating Committee for the Memorial. On March 4, 1996, the Committee was designated as a Cultural Facilities Agency of the City of Littleton. These senior citizens met regularly to devise the goals and objectives of the monument, to select a site, to choose an architect, to raise money to pay for an architect's rendering of a design to use to solicit additional funds, to balance the design with its cost, and to work with South Suburban Park and Recreation District for their continuing landscaping and maintenance of the monument. History departments at the three Littleton High Schools and at Arapahoe Community College wrote the texts of the theater monoliths. Fund-raising through grant preparation, sale of individual memorial bricks at local theatres and at Western Welcome Week parades, presentations at service clubs and veterans organizations, and mail solicitation of local businesses were all part of a major continuous effort of this committee for five years.

We are very proud of the work and patience of our architect, Robert Root, of Root-Rosenman, Denver, who interpreted our goals of honoring all the veterans of World War II, of explaining the scope and magnitude of the war, and of educating our children and grandchildren and generations to come, about the reasons we fought, and the geography of the world in 1941-45. We feel he and his associates gave us a stirring, contemporary, inspiring piece of art.

We are extremely appreciative of the City of Littleton, who launched the first idea of the memorial and shepherded us through five long years of effort, as well as helping us with very generous financial support. The mayors, the city councils, the treasurer, the city attorney, the city managers, and assistant to the city manager have supported us continuously. David Flaig, Littleton's senior landscape architect, has been the project manager during the construction phase. His superior leadership and friendship led the committee in the completion of the memorial.

Special thanks to:

Mayor Susan Thornton
Mayor Pro Tem Pat Cronenberger
Council Member Susan Beckman
Council Member Shirley Harris
Council Member LaDonna Jurgensen
Council Member Rebecca Kast
Council Member Tom Mulvey
Former City Manager Andy McMinimee
Former Council Member Dennis Reynolds
Former Council Member Lance Foreman
Former Council Member Charley Emley
Former Council Member Deborah Foster
Former Council Member Robert Reed
Former Council Member Doug Clark
Former Council Member Beverly Dalton-Fanganello
City Manager Jim Woods
Budget Manager Mike Roeper
Assistant to the City Manager Kelli Narde
Finance Technician Susan Firmin
City Attorney Larry Berkowitz
Phyllis Larison, Bemis Public Library
Bill Hastings, Littleton Historical Museum
Graphic design by Chris Harguth

A Brief History of World War II

Historians have said that World War II was the single most devastating event in all of human history--because of the number of people and nations and resources involved, from all of the continents of the world, in a terrible and unprecedented cataclysm.

Beginning of World War II

World War II began in the mid-1930s with Japan's encroachment into China and Manchuria, Germany's penetration and occupation of the Sudetenland, and Italy's declaration of war on Ethiopia. These three autocracies became the Axis Powers. European and North African countries became involved with them, as they were attacked and dominated, one by one, over the years. Asian countries and Pacific Ocean islands were conquered by Japan piecemeal.

The British Empire and its Allies Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the Scandinavian countries, and other European nations fought together against the Axis. Great Britain entered the war in September 1939 because of Germany's invasion of Poland, in violation of previous neutrality treaties. After the fall of the Low Countries and France, England and her Empire fought on alone. England, battered by aerial bombs and rockets, was never over-run.

Atrocities, such as the "Rape of Nanking," China, by Japan, and Germany's persecution of the Jews in every European country, resulted in emotional and political uncertainty in the United States--isolationism opposed to activism. The United States was not prepared for war, nor did a lot of the country want to be in a war. To overcome this lack of unity, strategies were devised by the government under the command of General George Marshall with the leadership of President Roosevelt, to help the allies, such as lend-lease of war materials, exchange of naval destroyers for strategic bases in the Caribbean, and dispatch of U.S. Marines to Iceland, a strategic island en route to Europe along U.S. shipping lanes.

Pearl Harbor

On Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, Japan attacked and nearly destroyed the U.S. Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. President Roosevelt declared war with Japan. Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy declared war on the United States on December 11. The United States was at war against the Axis and with the Allies, now led by President Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, England's indefatigable prime minister, and Josef Stalin, Russia's stolid dictator.

American Theater Mobilization

At the home front, the American Theater, the United States mobilized to build the armed forces and equip the fighting men with ships, tanks, planes, and ammunition. Every person in the country shared the same purpose: to free the world.

From children participating in metal drives; to young men joining the four armed services (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard) to fight the enemy; to their parents, coping with government rationing of gasoline, of sugar, butter, coffee, of tires, shoes, and clothing; growing backyard victory gardens, donating blood regularly, and carpooling to work in defense plants to keep old cars working (there were no new cars; all new production went to the military); to grandparents volunteering for the American Red Cross folding bandages, manning local defense warden posts, knitting for the men in Europe; and ceaselessly feeding and entertaining the boys who were shipped through their towns, or to nearby installations. Women, young and old, took men's places in war plants; "Rosie the Riveter" learned skills and endurance she hadn't known before. When the armed forces later in the war opened their doors to young women, they released men to fight by taking their places as ferry pilots, pilot trainers, vehicle drivers, clerks, and any jobs they could do, establishing a strong and proud tradition of women serving their country, still advancing today in the armed services. Many of the black population gradually moved from the South to the North, gaining a foothold in industry, and eventually in the armed forces. Nurses in uniform were revered in every country of the globe, from the beginning of the onslaught to today, when the country's pride in their dedication under fire is unbounded.

European-African-Middle East Theater

In the European-African-Middle East Theater, England battled Adolf Hitler in the Netherlands and Belgium, until they were overcome, and in France, until it fell; then England fought on alone. Canadians, New Zealanders, Australians, and British fought in the North African desert campaign, where the first Allied landing against the Axis powers took place in November 1942, to deny German control of the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa. Striking north through Sicily (July 1943) into Italy, a grinding two-year war (1943-1945) of attrition was fought, made more difficult by large numbers of German troops. The defeat of Premier Benito Mussolini and his Fascist army finally came in 1945. Meanwhile, Russia had been pushing for a second Allied front in Europe to relieve its hard-pressed military. On June 6, 1944, "D-Day", the Allies landed on the coast of Normandy, France, in a massive invasion of Europe under the command of General Dwight Eisenhower of the United States. Slogging east through Belgium, France, then Germany, the western Allies ended their overland campaign with the Battle of the Bulge at the end of 1944. Russian troops fought west through their country; air forces of each country continued a relentless hammering of the enemy; the navy protected supplies in the Atlantic convoys. The combined Allied forces defeated the Germans May 8, 1945.

China-Burma-India Theater

In the China-Burma-India Theater, the war was motivated by the European nations' desire to recover their Asian colonial possessions taken over or threatened by Japan in 1941. Retired General Chennault of the U.S. Army Air Corps recruited American pilots, called the "Flying Tigers," to fly the "Hump" of the Himalayan Mountains to ferry lend-lease supplies to China because Japan had captured the "Burma Road." General Joseph Stilwell represented President Roosevelt with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek of China in his plan to expel one million Japanese troops from China and Southeast Asia. Stilwell planned the "Ledo Road" from India through Burma into China under the inter-allied Southeast Asia Command of British Vice-Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten. The defense of China and Burma was completed in the spring of 1945. China did not figure prominently in the defeat of Japan because she was embroiled in her own civil war at that time.

Asiatic-Pacific Theater

In the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, Japan continued to conquer island after island, until August 7, 1942, when U.S. Marines made the first amphibious landing on Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. Admiral Chester Nimitz directed naval warfare under Admiral Ernest King, Chief of Naval Operations; the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway were turning points in this naval war, and the beginning of the slow but certain pursuit and defeat of Japan, island by island (1942-1945). Simultaneously, General Douglas MacArthur landed army forces in New Guinea, and ultimately returned to free the Philippine Islands. After President Roosevelt's death in April 1945, President Harry Truman authorized dropping two atomic bombs, first at Hiroshima, Japan, August 6, 1945, then at Nagasaki, Japan a few days later, to forestall the Allied losses anticipated in a landing on the Japanese mainland. Japan surrendered September 2, 1945, and the war in the Pacific was over, four months after the European war. Essentially a naval war, the South and Central Pacific battles left many sailors and Marines buried at sea.

War's End

Thus the greatest tragedy the world had ever known was over, leaving a vastly different United States. The United States "stands at this moment at the summit of the world" (Winston Churchill, 1945). The United States had shaken free of the depression, and led the world technologically at the cost of 405,399 American soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. Those young men and women, who answered their country's need at the sacrifice of their lives, could never be returned to us. Those who were fortunate enough to return do them honor every day through this memorial. We will never forget them, nor will the country. We will remember the jaunty young man who fought with a "Big Band" song on his lips, who jumped aboard a troop train at the end of a USO dance, who kept all our spirits up with the latest news, who shared our fear, our love, our family, who could come up with a joke in a blinding storm, who griped about the GI (government issue) rations at every meal, who was our strength in fear, our right-hand in combat, our partner in love affairs and marriage, and our buddy! We live with many today, white-haired, slow-paced, reflective of the passing years, full of pride in the war years.

World War II Books, Music and Videos at Bemis Public Library, Littleton

World War II Books for Children at Bemis Public Library, Littleton

World War II Committee Member Wartime Biographies

Ed Achziger

Ed Achziger served in the United States Navy from November 1943 to May 1946. He went to boot camp in Farragut, Idaho eight weeks, then to the USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70) CASU #6. He received these ribbons and citations: Asiatic Pacific Medal with three stars, American Theater Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal with one star, and the Presidential Unit Citation for the USS Fanshaw Bay, an escort carrier.

Ed's ship was awarded a Presidential citation "for extraordinary heroism in action against powerful units of the Japanese Fleet during the battle off Samar, Philippines, October 25, 1944 ... in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service." The Philippine government also issued a unit citation to his task force, whose action opened the door to the invasion of Leyte, Philippine Islands.

Ed remembers: "The day before the Japanese encounter, working with aircraft maintenance and as a member of the aircraft landing crew, I got up at 2 p.m. and worked all night because of the multiple repairs needed by many aircraft, then stayed up to land aircraft after General Quarters, which wasn't called until midnight, October 25, 1944. During this long day, first the ship encountered the Japanese naval force, then Japanese suicide (kamikaze) planes, one of which our gunners shot down just before it hit the ship."

"During the Japanese task force early encounter, I was sent to repair a tailhook assembly on a fighter plane, without parachute or life vest or jacket, because of close quarters. While I was inside the plane, orders were given to launch all aircraft regardless of needed repairs, and the plane I was repairing was put on the elevator, then placed on the aircraft launching catapult. Fortunately, my machinist mate 1st class opened the back hatch for me to get out; as soon as we were in the clear, the plane took off."

Thomas R. Heaton

Thomas R. Heaton (Chairman of Coordinating Committee) enlisted in the Army November 27, 1942; called to active duty May 20, 1943; discharged November 25, 1945. Tom served as a sergeant, light machine-gun squad leader in Company G, 222nd Infantry, 42nd Division. He entered combat with German Panzer Division elements (SS, Wehrmacht) on December 25, 1944; he was wounded April 3, 1945. He fought in northern Alsace in the battle of the Rhineland and the Battle of Ardennes, and in Germany in the battle of Central Europe. His service areas included the American Theater and the European-African-Middle East Theater. His decorations included Combat Infantry Badge; Silver Star Medal; Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster (denoting second medal); Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster (denoting second medal); American Theater Service Medal; African-European-Middle East Service Medal with three battle stars; Good Conduct Medal; World War II Victory Medal.

Malcolm Komitor

"I was a third-year student, majoring in chemical engineering at the University of Cincinnati when I enlisted in the Army. The Army needed engineers; we were told we could continue our studies after we joined. On April 22, 1943, I reported to Camp Upton, NY, thence to Fort Benning, Georgia, for basic training. After six months, we were sent to Ohio State University to continue our engineering under the Army Specialized Training Program. The program was ended in about six months, and I was assigned to the 14th Armored Battalion at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, thence to Fort Ord, California to form the 788th Amphibious Tank Battalion. I was assigned radio operator and assistant driver of an LVT (Landing Vehicle, Tank); we were attached to the 96th Infantry Division ordered to take the island of Yap. However, Yap was bypassed, and we invaded Leyte, Philippine Islands, in October 1944." (Malcolm pictured, on right side, in Leyte)

"Then we prepared for the invasion of Okinawa, attached to the 96th Infantry Division as the 780th Amphibious Tank Battalion. As we had in Leyte, we were the first units ashore on April 1, 1945, to overcome any beach weapons with our 75-mm howitzer, and 50 and 30-caliber machine guns. Luckily for us, many Navy and Air Force planes bombarded the beaches, and the Japanese retreated inland to the mountains."

"Then we went to Luzon to prepare for the invasion of the Japanese homeland. Later intelligence reports indicated that the beach on which we were assigned to land was heavily fortified, and if it had not been for the use of the atom bomb, Japan might not have ended the war, and I might not be writing this account of my service in World War II. We finally returned home on the converted liner, the SS Brazil, from Manila, landing in San Francisco January 1, 1946. After discharge, I returned to the University of Cincinnati to finish my degree under the GI Bill."

Medals awarded include: World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two bronze stars, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with two bronze stars and bronze arrowhead, American Theater Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal.

Ray Martinez

Ray Martinez enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1945 under the "1945 Armed Forces Voluntary Recruitment Act." He served in the Sixth Marines, First Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, serving with the occupation and security forces of the Pacific Fleet. He returned to Camp Pendleton, California as a Sergeant in G-2 Intelligence. At that time, Intelligence needed draftsmen to make maps, overlays, and beach studies to track the Chinese situation. Ray graduated from Military Drafting School first in his class, with a score of 98.5. In 1949, after completion of Officers Candidates School in Quantico, Virginia, Ray rejoined the Sixth Marines as a platoon leader. He resigned in January 1950 to attend college.

Ribbons include: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign, China Service. Awards include: World War II Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Certificate of Satisfactory Service, and Honorable and Satisfactory Service in World War II.

Irvin C. Obermeyer

Irvin C. Obermeyer ATC USN (RET) enlisted in the U.S. Navy on March 13, 1940, and retired after twenty years on April 8, 1960. All of Irvin's overseas duty was in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. He was a radioman on a submarine and destroyer escort during World War II. In 1946, he changed his rate to Aviation Electronics and was in Naval aviation the last fourteen years of his navy career, serving on several carriers, Naval Aviation Squadrons VC-35, VP-22, and three years on the Admiral's staff at Alameda, California.

He was in a total of thirteen battles in the Pacific, including the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Battle of Midway, the Battle of Coral Sea, the Defense of the Philippines, and the battle at Leyte for the liberation of the Philippines, the battle at Okinawa, and the Korean War.

He was issued the following medals: Purple Heart Medal, Good Conduct Medal with three Bronze Stars, American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four Bronze Stars, World War II Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Philippine Defense with Bronze Star, the Philippine Liberation Medal, the Philippine Independence Medal, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation and the Pearl Harbor Medal.

Alan M. Stewart

Alan M. Stewart, Major, US Marine Corps, was commissioned a 2nd Lt. USMCR in June 1942 and married Julie (his college sweetheart) one week later in the Post Chapel, Quantico, Virginia. "I went to the South Pacific Theater December 2, 1942, and served in New Caledonia, Guadalcanal, and aboard USS Mt. McKinley and several LSTs (landing-ship tank). Fought in the battles of Bougainville and the Central Solomon Islands; landed on D-Day on Green Island in the Treasury Islands, and on Pelelieu in the Central Pacific. Transferred from the USS Ancon in January 1945 to San Francisco Marine Corps Depot of Supplies, where I was in charge of loading ships for the Pacific War; was there on V-J Day."

"After the war was over, I was a rifle company commander in the Second Marine Regiment; then I commanded the Marine Detachment aboard the aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea, CV47, which was part of the European occupation forces in the Mediterranean Sea."

"After occupation duty, I returned to the Second Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina as the Division Legal Officer. When the war in Korea started, I was transferred to the Infantry Training Command at Camp Pendleton, California, where I made Major in the regular Marine Corps and served as Infantry Battalion Operations Officer. I was discharged in June 1953 for a service-connected disability."

"I received the following medals: Navy Unit Citation with star (for second award) for service on USS Philippine Sea; Asiatic- Pacific Medal with four battle stars; American Theater Medal, World War II Victory Medal; European Occupation Medal; Korean Service Medal; expert rifle and pistol badges."

Julie M. Stewart

Julie M. Stewart represents the typical civilian Home Front in the American Theater. Married to Alan at Marine Barracks, Quantico, Virginia, June 20,1942; married 5 1/2 months living on five different Marine Posts, when Alan went overseas for 25 months. "Returned to St. Louis to my parents' home to get a wartime job, save money for Alan, and to write V-mail letters to Al in the South Pacific. I worked for the St. Louis Ordnance District as an ordnance inspector 6-7 days each week. On Sundays, I drove for the American Red Cross (in uniform), toting young servicemen to USO dances; to "gedunks" at the airport, where we fed them grilled Spam and cheese sandwiches as they slept on the couches, flying standby on military flights; to blood centers where we all gave blood regularly. One night each week, my parents and I packed POW food packages in an old shoe-assembly plant. All you could wear was underwear and a Red Cross smock, no jewelry except a wedding ring, so nothing contraband could slip into a package and give the enemy an excuse for stopping the shipments. No air-conditioning existed yet, and since St. Louis has very hot summers, we were better off stripped down. When the Women Marines first started and I enlisted, they sent me home when they found out Al was in combat!"

"Home to tend the Victory Garden, to pore over news broadcasts or newsreels, or to pick up the piles of metal trash for the local drive, to sell war bonds at local theaters, or to mend the irreplaceable clothes so they'd last, or save rationing coupons to buy a new suit for Al's return. When he did return in early 1945, we bought his first car--the biggest used convertible he could find (there were no new cars) and drove to Coronado, California, to the USS Ancon. We were in San Francisco when V-J Day came! The city was bedlam-everyone on the streets, everyone kissing, everyone shooting fireworks-the war was over! "

Sally Stiffler tells her story:

"Sally Burke, born 1920 on a farm in Iowa, one of seven children, mother a teacher, father a farmer. College in Chicago, Loyola University; graduated 1941. A friend was killed on the Arizona in Pearl Harbor. Joined Army Nurse Corps as 2nd Lt., February 1942. Basic training at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois. Sent to open a hospital in August 1942 at Camp Moxey, Texas. Infantry and tank destroyers, 350,000 men trained there. Worked in operating rooms. Gave some of the first penicillin shots when it was released to the military in 1943."

"January 1944, married to First Lt. Charles A. Kelly; we were both sent to England in March 1944. I was promoted to First Lt. in England; entered France June 22, 1944. Charles Kelly was killed in France August 1944."

"Served in 182nd Evacuation Hospital June 1944 to May 1945 in tents, through the worst winter Europe had ever had. When the war was over in Europe, the unit was sent to the South Pacific by way of the Panama Canal. In New Guinea and the Philippine Islands, got dengue fever and malaria. When the war ended, we all waited to go home. Arrived San Diego November 1945. Discharged December 1945. A hell of along time."

Sally didn't work as a nurse for seventeen years after the war, suffering from post-traumatic syndrome, and then only went back because of necessity. Sally married a widower with two little girls. They, Charlie Stiffler and Sally raised those two little girls and had three more, then five boys.

Her ribbons include: European Theater, American Theater, Asiatic-Pacific Theater, Philippine Liberation Medal, World War II Victory Medal.

Additional Littleton World War II veteran biographies can be found
on the Memories of World War II Web site