Irving Hale was born
August 28, 1861 in Bloomfield, Ontario County,
New York. He moved to Colorado with his family at
the age of five. He excelled at academics and
graduated at the top of his class at East Denver
High School.He
was accepted at the Military at West Point, New
York in 1880. He attended West Point Academy for
four years graduating in 1884 with high honors.
He was commissioned in the Corp of Engineers. He
later taught engineering at West Point.
He left the army
in 1890 to become manager of the General Electric
Company of Denver, Colorado. He rejoined the army
on May 1, 1898 and was commissioned lieutenant
colonel in the Colorado National Guard and later
a colonel of the 1st Colorado Infantry
Volunteers. His unit was sent to the Philippines
in 1898. Hale was promoted to Brigadier General
on August 13 1898 for his action against Manila.
He was wounded in the knee on March 26, 1899 at
Meycauyan and recommended for Brevet Major
General on April 25 1899 for distinguished
gallantry in action at Calumpet, Luzon. He was
awarded the Silver Star. He was honorably
discharged on October 1, 1899.
 Following the end of his
military service he began working to form an
organization of former servicemen of the
Philippine War. His efforts to merge several
veteran organizations culminated in the formation
of the United Spanish War Veterans in 1898 and
the Veterans of Foreign Wars in 1914.
Hale fell ill in
1911 suffering from a paralytic stroke. He was
never able to fully recover. He died July 26,
1930 in Denver and was buried at the Fairmount
Cemetery located in the Denver area.
(Photo Contributed
by Gene Beals)
(Headstone photo contributed by Barbara Schmidt)
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