Nation's war monuments have stamp of Houston veteran

April 25, 2003

HOUSTON, Texas - The handiwork of Bobby Schlitzberger can be seen on the nation's most inspiring memorials and monuments.

"I appreciate the significance of doing these projects," says the second-generation owner of a Houston, Texas-based family monument company. "I just never brag about it."

The stories behind the monuments Schlitzberger inscribes are humbling. He has worked on major projects, including the monument recently dedicated to Air Force Col. George E. "Bud" Day. A fighter-bomber pilot who was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967, Day spent 67 months in a POW camp. He is the most decorated living soldier in the United States.

Schlitzberger also designed and carved the granite pedestal for the monument of the late Col. Arthur D. "Bull" Simons, a real-life Rambo, who led daring raids to rescue American POWs in Vietnam and attempted to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran in 1980.

For the "Bud" Day memorial at Iowa's Sioux Gateway Airport, Schlitzberger polished four 4,500-pound pieces of Nero Black granite that were fitted into a quadrilateral base shaped like the bottom of a pyramid. The granite base supports a nine-foot bronze statue of Day in uniform holding a jet helmet.

Schlitzberger carved gilded inscriptions that detailed Day's astonishing career and POW ordeals. Day was the first American to escape from a North Vietnamese prison and reach South Vietnam before he was captured again. He was in solitary confinement for 36 months. During one period, he was beaten with a fan belt for 66 days but, as Schlitzberger inscribed on his monument, "refused to yield." Day's monument features a quote from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, "Never give in, never give in - never, never, never." Day became a successful lawyer and currently lives in Florida. He is in excellent health for his age and regularly plays golf.

It can take days or weeks to approve the designs and features of a memorial like Day's. But Schlitzberger was surprised by the speed and efficiency in which the monument inscriptions and designs were approved by billionaire philanthropist H. Ross Perot, who commissioned the project. "I flew all the way up to Sioux City, Iowa, and was out of there in less than 30 minutes," Schlitzberger says.

Perot was an advisor to the Nixon administration from 1969 on recommending ways to free U.S. POWs in Vietnam and is actively involved in POW issues and supporting veterans. Perot knew "Bull" Simons, who made the most daring but unsuccessful raid to rescue American POWs in Vietnam in 1970. The raiders landed at a camp in Son Tay, 23 miles west of Hanoi, but found it empty. Its POWs had been moved while the camp was being refurbished. Simons also organized the rescue of two employees of Perot's data processing firm from an Iranian prison in 1979.

When the Phoenix project of rebuilding the Pentagon after September 11, 2001 was near completion, an appreciation ceremony was planned to thank Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. A piece of limestone left from the terrorist attack was shipped to Houston where Schlitzberger mounted it on a two-foot rectangular block of Nero Black Granite and carved inscriptions commemorating the event. The ceremony was televised on C-SPAN.

Schlitzberger says he never goes out of his way to do war memorials or monuments. "I guess people know me by now and it may also have to do with my background." Schlitzberger is an ex-Army drill sergeant who served in Vietnam during 1968-69. Barrel-chested and loud of voice, he also looks the part.

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The Cold Spring Granite Co. is a leading manufacturer, designer and distributor of granite and bronze products. The Cold Spring Granite Memorial Group offers the broadest line of memorial products, including upright monuments, flat markers, cast bronze and granite bases, urns, columbariums, community and family mausoleums, benches, and specialty cemetery features.

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