In Memory

George Skakel

George Skakel

Date Deceased: March-06-1968
Age at Death: 22
Cause of Death: Killed in Action in Quang Tri, Vietnam
Classmate City: Santa Cruz
Classmate State: CA
Classmate Country: USA
Survived By: Sisters Nancy Skakel of White Salmon, Washington and Sallie Skakel of Goldendale, Washington.

 


George only lived 22 years but he left his mark and made his presence known. He did not want to go to Vietnam. He considered jail and leaving to Canada but in the end he went. Sometime after George arrived in Vietnam, he began sending War Correspondence to the UCSC City on the Hill Press under an assumed name, CPL Callibernus. All those who read his letters were deeply moved by them. The City on a Hill Press published George's obituary soon after his death revealing his true identity.

Obituary published in City on a Hill Press, the UCSC student newspaper in 1968:

SKAKEL - “CALLIBERNUS” KILLED IN ACTION

Death comes in the forests and the jungles of Vietnam, it comes often. In the quiet of Santa Cruz it comes as a shock. George Walter Skakel, the PRESS’ “Cpl. Callibernus”, was killed in action 6 March, 1968. A former Santa Cruz student, George was finishing the last two months of his tour of duty and intended to return to Santa Cruz in the fall. He has been with the Air Cavalry in Quang Tri, north of Hue. Recently promoted to Sargent, George was leading a squad of what he described as “two veterans and eight newcomers. Two old-timers and nine college kids.” A member of the first class at Santa Cruz, he was born in Moab, Utah. Graduating from high school in Ojai, George “hit the road” for a year and a half. He travelled on a Norwegian freighter to Europe, spending a month as a non-student at Oxford. He made his way through France, Germany, and Spain. He worked his way to India, Thailand, and then Saigon. He spent several months working in a Uranium mine in Northern Australia, returning to the United States in the Fall of 1965. Enrolling as a freshman in the ‘pioneer’ class, George was able to spend only his freshman year here. Because he had not made “normal educational progress” (by dropping out of school for the 1 1/2 years) he was drafted. George was due to finish his tour of duty at the end of April and was to be discharged in June.


George planned to stop in Japan after his tour in Vietnam was completed to propose marriage to former Nordhoff classmate, Yoshiko Shirai.

NASA honored George by sending him into space on the STARDUST spacecraft in 2004 to visit the Comet Wild. I am not making this up. Check it out at NASA's website: stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/overview/microchip/names2s23.html

Read the article, about George, the war correspondent, published in the University of California at Santa Cruz, City on a Hill Press: Voices from the Front: Bringing the War Home

Read this article about the Vietnam War published in the University of California at Santa Cruz, City on a Hill Press in 2016 in which George's life, war experience and death is a central focus : Inside the Lines: The Vietnam War

UCSC honored George with a memorial on campus in the Cowell College Courtyard: Modest Memorial Carries Heavy History



 
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03/26/09 09:39 PM #1    

Blair Cooper

Thank you so much for forwarding George's memorial site. I always knew he would go far and I was so sadden to hear that he was killed in Vietnam. We lost so many.

Thanks again,

Kathy (Jansen) Martin

04/03/09 01:19 PM #2    

Blair Cooper

From: Gib Franciscotty

I have thought of George often wondering about the short life he lived and hoping that there were some good times in there for him. Life and experiences have changed us all. It looks a bit different from this end of the spectrum.


04/03/09 01:22 PM #3    

Blair Cooper

Thanks so much for sharing George's story.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought of him and what could have been and how much better off this country would be if he had lived to help direct it, which I’m sure he would have. God bless his sole and may his philosophy live on forever, carried on through those he touched.

Until we meet again…

Troy R. Helton, Jr.

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