Denzil Garrison
{{Short description|American attorney and politician}}
{{ infobox officeholder
| name = Denny Garrison
| state_senate = Oklahoma
| constituency1 = 34th district (1961–1965)
29th district (1965–1971)
| term_start = 1965
| term_end = 1973
| predecessor = John C. Wilkerson Jr
| successor = Jerry T. Pierce
| term_start1 = 1961
| term_end1 = 1965
| predecessor1 = Frank Mahan
| successor1 = Charles Pope
| office2 = Minority Leader of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
| term_start2 = 1958
| term_end2 = 1961
| predecessor2 = Robert N. Alexander
| successor2 = Carl G. Etling
| state_house3 = Oklahoma
| district3 = Washington County
| predecessor3 = Carl W. Staats
| successor3 = C. W. Doornbos
| term_start3 = 1957
| term_end3 = 1961
| office4 = County attorney for Washington County, Oklahoma
| term_start4 = 1954
| term_end4 = 1956
| predecessor4 = James H. Laughlin
| successor4 = James H. Laughlin
| birth_date = {{birth date|1926|11|20}}
| birth_name = Denzil Doss Garrison
| birth_place = Norman, Oklahoma, U. S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|1|15|1926|11|20}}
| death_place = Bartlesville, Oklahoma, U. S.
| education = University of Oklahoma College of Law (J.D.)
| party = Republican Party
| allegiance = {{flag|US}}
| branch = United States Marine Corps
| serviceyears = 1945–1946, 1950–1951
| rank =
| unit =
| battles =
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}}
Denzil Garrison (November 20, 1926 – January 15, 2018) was an American attorney and politician who served in the Oklahoma Legislature from 1957 to 1974. He was a member of the Republican Party.
Early life and family
Denzil "Denny" Doss Garrison, was born on November 20, 1926, in Norman, Oklahoma, to Nita Ellen Smith and Joseph Don Garrison Sr. His father was a World War I veteran and the Norman Public Schools superintendent while his mother was a piano teacher. He attended Jefferson Grade School and Norman Junior High School. When his father was enlisted during World War II, he transferred to Columbus High School in Georiga, but he returned to Norman to graduate from Norman High School in 1944. Despite an offer to play football at the University of Oklahoma, Garrison initially enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in March 1945 and he was accepted into Officer Candidate School.
Military career and education
After graduation he was sent to Europe on the USS Lejeune with the 9th Infantry Division to staff post-World War II occupations, where he was stationed in Germany.{{cite web |last1=Erling |first1=John |last2=Garrison |first2=Denzil |last3=Jones |first3=Jenk |title=Denzil Garrison |url=https://voicesofoklahoma.com/assets/pdf/Denzil-Garrison-Transcript.pdf |website=voicesofoklahoma.com |publisher=Oklahoma Historical Society |access-date=February 16, 2025 |format=Interview |date=October 23, 2012}} After a year in Germany, he attended the University of Oklahoma before attending the University of Oklahoma College of Law.{{efn|Garrison did not receive an undergraduate degree before attending law school.}} In 1950, during his senior year of law school, he was called back to service for the Korean War and shipped on the USS General William Weigel. He spent a year in Korea and wrote Remembrances of a Redleg about his experience. After returning from Korea, he finished law school with a Bachelor of Laws.{{efn|His degree was later changed to a juris doctor as degrees were standardized.}}
Career
Garrison started his legal career working for City Service Oil Company in Bartlesville before entering private practice with Charles Selby. In 1954, he filed as a Republican to run for county attorney of Washington County against the incumbent Democrat James H. Laughlin.{{efn|Laughlin later succeeded Garrison in 1956.{{cite web |authorlink=Leo Winters |last1=Winters |first1=Leo |title=Roster: State and County Officers |url=https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/elections/rosters/officer-roster-1956.pdf |website=oklahoma.gov |publisher=Oklahoma State Election Board |access-date=February 17, 2025 |date=1957}}}} He won the election and served for two years before being elected to succeed Carl W. Staats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives.{{cite web |title=Oklahoma History |url=http://www.odl.state.ok.us/almanac/2005/14-histry.pdf |access-date=7 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218215829/http://www.odl.state.ok.us/almanac/2005/14-histry.pdf |archive-date=February 18, 2006}}
=Oklahoma House=
Staats convinced Garrison to run to succeed him and he was elected without opposition. During his tenure, he testified in a federal lawsuit that eventually led to an order by Judge Frederick Alvin Daugherty to reapportion the Oklahoma Senate. After serving two terms in the state house, he was succeeded by C. W. Doornbos. While in the house, he served as minority leader.{{when|date=February 2025}}
=Oklahoma Senate=
Garrison was elected to the 34th senate district and took office in 1961, succeeding Frank Mahan. In 1965, he was redistricted to the 29th district, where he replaced John C. Wilkerson Jr. In 1966, he ran for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district, but lost to Ed Edmondson.{{cite web |title=1958–1966 results |url=https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/elections/election-results/results-prior-to-1980/1958-1966-results.pdf |publisher=Oklahoma State Election Board |page=66}} He served in that district until he retired in 1973. He was succeeded by Jerry T. Pierce. While in the senate, he served as minority leader.{{when|date=February 2025}} In 1974, he ran for Governor of Oklahoma, but lost the Republican primary to Jim Inhofe.{{cite web |title=1968-1974 results |url=https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/elections/election-results/results-prior-to-1980/1968-1974-results.pdf |publisher=Oklahoma State Election Board |pages=47, 50, 55, 57}}
==Randall Herrod trial==
{{Further|Sơn Thắng massacre}}
In 1970, Garrison and Democratic state senator Gene Stipe represented Randall Herrod, a Muscogee member of the United States Marine Corps who led the patrol that committed the Sơn Thắng massacre, during his court martial.{{cite web |date=September 11, 2023 |last1=O'Dell |first1=Larry |title=Stipe, Eugene Edward (1926-2012). |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=ST065 |website=okhistory.org |publisher=Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |access-date=31 October 2023}} Garrison was quickly convinced to represent Herrod since his uncle saved him from a crashed aircraft during the Korean War.{{sfn|Solis|1997|p=219}} Stipe had previously represented a Vietnam War fragging case in California and agreed to take the case with Garrison, serving as lead counsel.{{sfn|Solis|1997|p=219-221}}
Later life and death
Garrison later served as the legislative liaison for Governor David Boren.{{cite news |title=Rites held for Denzil Garrison, former state legislator from Bartlesville |url=https://tulsaworld.com/obituaries/localobituaries/rites-held-for-denzil-garrison-former-state-legislator-from-bartlesville/article_bf309e9c-ac18-5f03-940d-0b81994d8c0c.html |access-date=February 17, 2025 |work=Tulsa World |date=January 20, 2018}} He died on January 15, 2018, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.{{cite web |title=Denzil D. Garrison: 1926 – 2018 |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/examiner-enterprise/name/denzil-garrison-obituary?id=10221946 |website=legacy.com |publisher=Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise |access-date=February 17, 2025 |date=January 18, 2018}}
Electoral history
{{Election box begin no change
| title = 1966 United States House of Representatives election in Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Ed Edmondson
| party = Democratic Party (United States)
| votes = 62,324
| percentage = 53.6
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Denzil Garrison
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 53,919
| percentage = 46.3
}}
{{Election box total no change
| votes = 116,243
| percentage = 100.0
}}
{{Election box hold with party link no change
| winner = Democratic Party (United States)
}}
{{Election box end}}
{{Election box begin no change
| title = 1974 Oklahoma gubernatorial Republican primary results
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Jim Inhofe
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 88,594
| percentage = 58.7
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
| candidate = Denzil Garrison
| party = Republican Party (United States)
| votes = 62,188
| percentage = 41.2
}}
{{Election box total no change
| votes = 150,782
| percentage= 100.00
}}
{{Election box end}}
Works
- {{cite journal |last1=Garrison |first1=Denzil D. |title=Reminiscences of a Redleg: An Oklahoma Artilleryman in the Korean War |journal=Chronicles of Oklahoma |date=2001 |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=388–407 |url=https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc2016844/m2/1/high_res_d/2001-v79-n04_a01.pdf |access-date=February 17, 2025}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
Works cited
- {{cite book |authorlink=Gary D. Solis |last1=Solis |first1=Gary D. |title=Son Thang : An American War Crime |date=1997 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-55750-743-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/sonthangamerican00soli/mode/2up |access-date=19 April 2024}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrison, Denzil}}
Category:20th-century members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
Category:District attorneys in Oklahoma
Category:Republican Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
Category:Republican Party Oklahoma state senators
Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War
Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II