ROY KENNEDY SKIPTON
Five years with the 82nd Airborne took Captain Skipton through France,
Holland, Belgium and Germany. For all this he was awarded seven combat
decorations plus four battle stars and the bronze arrowhead on his ETO
ribbon. In return, he gave his right eye, part of his skull; wounds received
while fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, after the
hospitals, he married Mary Eleanor McLaughlin, and they now have two
daughters. Skip was born in Excelsior, Minnesota, where the shades of night
fall fast, and was graduated from College Park in '42. After internship, he
is pointing for Ob- Gyn.
Source: Terra Mariae medicus
University of Maryland, College Park. School of Medicine,
Annual of the University's School of Medicine
and School of Nursing (1951) In Memoriam
The Medical Staff of Prince George’s Hospital Center mourns the loss of
[one] of its members:
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ROY K. SKIPTON, M.D.
On Tuesday, April 20, 2010, of
Rockville, MD. Beloved husband of Mary M. Skipton; father of Cornelia A.
Skipton, Patrick Kennedy Skipton and his wife, Maria and the late Susan Jane
Skipton; grandfather of Kevin Williams, Matthew Williams, Joshua Skipton,
Andrew Skipton and Rosemary Skipton; great-grandfather of Grace Willis,
Allyson Williams and Sarah Williams, brother of Lisabeth Leonard. The family
will receive friends at PUMPHREY''S COLONIAL FUNERAL HOME, 300 W. Montgomery
Ave. (Route 28 just off I 270 exit 6-A) Rockville, MD on Friday from 3 to 5
and 7 to 9 p.m. A service will be held at New York Avenue Presbyterian
Church, 1313 New York Ave., N.W., Washington, DC. 20005-4790 on Saturday,
April 24, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. Graveside service and interment with full
military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, August 4, 2010
at 1 p.m. Please assemble at the Administration Building with your own
transportation by 12:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may
be made to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church at the above address.
Source: The Washington Post, April 22, 2010 |
Roy K. Skipton M.D.
Dr. Skipton passed away in May 2010. He entered the United States Army as a
paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment,
the famed “Red Devils”. He served as an Infantry Platoon Leader. He was
wounded in Holland in September 1944 and awarded a second Purple Heart for
wounds suffered in the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. His military
decorations include the Distinguished Unit Badge, World War II Victory
Medal, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with 1 Cluster, Combat Infantry Badge, and
the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 Battle Stars. He
received his medical degree at the University of Maryland in 1951. Dr.
Skipton practiced Obstetrics and Gynecology at Prince George’s Hospital from
1956 until 1984. He served as the Director of the Ob/Gyn Residency Program
for many years. Dr. Skipton is fondly remembered by many of his friends and
colleagues at Prince George’s Hospital Center. He will be greatly missed.
Graveside service and interment with full
military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, August 4, 2010
at 1 p.m. Please assemble at the Administration Building with your own
transportation by 12:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may
be made to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 2005-4790.
Source: The Leader, Medical staff of
Prince Georg's Hospital Center, July/August 2010 |
[courtesy of Anne Cady]
Grave marker for Roy K. Skipton in Section 13, Grave
7686-T, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington (Arlington county), Virginia.
Roy was a member of the ROTC program at the University of
Maryland where he graduated in 1942
2/Lt Skipton was transferred to Company B, 508th PIR
on 31 October 1942.
He was promoted to 1st Lieutenant on 26 October 1944.
1st Lt Skipton was seriously wounded in Belgium on 24
December 1944. A personal account from 1st Lt. Woodrow Millsaps
stated: "an artillery barrage came in … covering us with debris. I managed
to work myself loose and went to help Skipton. When I got him out from under
the debris, his eye was missing."
Lt. Skipton was evacuated and on 27 April 1945 was
transferred to a hospital's Detachment of Patients. He did not return
to the regiment.
Despite the loss of his right eye and some portion of his
skull in the area of the eye socket, "Skip" returned to college and
graduated from the University of Maryland's College of Medicine in 1962.
During his medical career, Doctor Skipton specialized in
Obstetrics and Gynecology.
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