The Veterans' Voice © 2009
Seeing A Lady Warrior Off to Iraq
When Tanna Bia came to Aztec VFW Post 614 to celebrate a birthday and going away party she had no idea what else was going to become a part of our Post History.
Tanna is being shipped out to Iraq and her family and friends were there in the Post Dining Room to see her off. She was surprised beyond words when the VFW Officers and some Army Personnel walked to the podium and asked her to please come forward.
Commander Abe Saiz then made a few opening remarks and presented her with a New Mexico State Flag. The New Mexico State Flag has a yellow field with a red Zia Sun Symbol in the center. It seems appropriate that a state with so many Native American Warriors should have such a flag.
As a Life Member of Post 614 and the proponent for Mount KIA/MIA it was my pleasure to present a Mount KIA/MIA Challenge Coin to her.
While there are already a few of these challenge coins in circulation, we expect them to become very popular. They will be sold for fifteen dollars each and a part of the proceeds will go toward continuing efforts toward a Mount KIA/MIA Memorial, and we are hoping that there will be a memorial built in the city of Saguache. We are also searching to find a place where people can bring, or send, dog tags honoring killed or missing military personnel. Since these stainless steel tags are almost indestructible it is hoped that there will be a perpetual place of honor for them. We really don’t think they should be on the mountain, but more likely at a “memorial” to be built for this special purpose in Saguache.
New Mexico is proud of all its warriors and I was honored to present the Challenge Coin to one of our Lady Warriors. We wish her a safe journey and look forward to seeing her again when she returns home.
A sunny day and a clear blue sky greeted us as we memorialized Army Cpl. John Spruell. As I stood there I could not help but feel the warmth of this December day and compare it to the cold of the Korean War. The people of Cortez can be proud of the event.
On Saturday, December 06, 2008 more than 100 family members, classmates and friends gathered at the Cortez Cemetery to see the memorial for Army Cpl. John A. Spruell dedicated. It was 58 years to the day since Spruell went missing West of Chosin Reservoir while fighting the Communist Chinese Forces in North Korea.
I traveled to Cortez because of my interest in honoring our heroes, because I was invited, and because Cpl. Spruell was part of a military unit that I had been researching for over six years. He was a member of Btry. B 57th FA Battalion, 7th Infantry Division.
When I read the data on Cpl. Spruell I realized that he had been in the same unit as Sgt. Jimmie Jumbo who I have often written about. Jimmie was from Toadlena, New Mexico and he and Spruell went missing on the same day at Hagaru-Ri North Korea, at the Chosin Reservoir. Spruell and Jumbo were from the Four-Corners Area and being soldiers I believe they would have talked about home. They may have discussed Fry Bread, Mutton Stew, Home Fries and Tacos, and probably family and girlfriends were discussed.
A funeral for my friend of many years, Glen Gabehart, was being carried out in Aztec, New Mexico on the same day as Spruell’s memorial and I thought of Glen as I stood there watching the dedication. Glen and I are members of Farmington High School Class of 1949 and the last time we visited we were looking forward to our upcoming 60th Class Reunion.
As we stood beneath a bright sun viewing a clear blue sky I gave thanks for the weather. This man deserved good weather on the day his memorial was dedicated. As I watched the wonderfully performed ceremony my eyes focused beyond the Speakers and the Honor Guard and the crowd as I looked toward Sleeping Ute Mountain behind them. Surely John Spruell saw this mountain every day he lived in Cortez, and it is fitting that his memorial be within view of this famous landmark
When I visit Cortez I will always stop for a moment at the Southwest corner of the Cortez Cemetery and stand at Cpl. Spruell’s memorial stone to say a prayer for him and his buddy Sgt. Jimmie Jumbo and gaze to the West to enjoy that same Sleeping Ute Mountain that I first viewed as a five year old boy when my family moved to Cortez in 1935
I have a younger brother who lives in Cortez now and who is also a Korean War Veteran, and I am sure that George will be pleased to place a fresh red rose on John Spruell’s memorial stone now and then.
A donor who asked not to be identified provided seed-money to the Cortez cemetery to establish a Memorial Fund in Cpl. John A. Spruell’s name. The fund will be used for maintaining the Veteran’s Section of this cemetery. The fund will repair older headstones and provide a buffer if a family cannot afford the hundred and forty dollar cost of stone-setting. Should you desire to contribute to this fund please contact Dennis Spruell, The Cortez Cemetery, or the Cortez Journal Newspaper.
Even after 58 years, it was evident that John Spruell was a favorite with his high school friends and the younger family members who had never met him. Now they will learn about the events of late November and early December 1950 when a small American Force held off the Chinese Army “East of Chosin” just long enough that the Marines and the few surviving Army personnel were able to fight their way out to the sea, and live to fight another day.
When I arrived at home I could not help but think of the love these “Chosin Few” have for each other, so I telephoned my friend Sgt. Carson Gentry who lives in Johnson City Tennessee. Gentry was a part of that unit and had survived having been a prisoner of the Communist Chinese for years. He was the one who first contacted me with a photo and information about Jimmie Jumbo and has put me in contact with others of these brave men who survived the battle West of Chosin. When you look at the photo of Gentry and Jumbo please remember that Gentry still had this photo over 50 years after the event, and that he has fond memories of Jimmie and his other buddies.
The story of the Korean War, which is called “the forgotten war”, is the story of men who still care about each other. Those who fought in this war will never forget!
Bruce L Salisbury
© 12 December 2008
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The Naming of Mount KIA/MIA: Story Here
by Bruce L Salisbury
When I first made application for compensation for the lung cancer that has slowed me down since it first presented in 1989, I expected it to take months to present my case and then I could be examined to see how much disability payment I might have coming.
Over the years since then I have learned many things and among them is that all veterans are not equal in the eyes of the VA.
When they decided to award disability to Vietnam Veterans on a presumptive basis it seemed somewhat odd. Why would one group of veterans automatically be presumed to have a service connected illness or disability just because they had been “in country” in Vietnam? Why would the veterans of all other conflicts not have a presumptive list, unless the VA presumes that we cannot have a disability because we were not in - country, in Vietnam during that war?
A few years ago the last of the World War One Veterans were dying and the US Government decided to honor those last five or six, so they sent someone to the VA to gather up their records. They found that none of these old Warriors had asked the VA for anything so they had no records there! What a concept!
My children were in the military during the Vietnam War, but not in-country. Now in their fifties and having some disabilities they do not have the Vietnam War presumptive list to protect them. My oldest son was a 20 year Air Force Medic and has medical issues which he feels are the result of his tour in Desert Storm, but no “presumptive list” protects him.
My wife was in the Air Force and she recently received a letter from the VA. And it reads: “According to records of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) you were stationed in the Republic of Vietnam during your military service. This letter tells you about VA disability compensation benefits that may be available to veterans who served on the ground or the inland waterways of Vietnam…….” The letter lists Type II Diabetes and other medical problems (which she has) as being presumptive. She swears that while I was overseas she was busy at home coping with three little kids, and was not in Nam.
As the years go by, our World War Two and Korean War Veterans are dying off at a rapid rate. Now the Vietnam Veterans are noticing that they too are dying in increasing numbers. At the rate we are leaving will the VA soon be closing down hospitals that are no longer needed?
While at the VA Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico recently for a medical appointment I stopped in to visit with a Patient Advocate. He is a nice guy and listens to me talk about my efforts to receive compensation for the lung cancer that I feel resulted from flying with the US Air Force and working around their project aircraft which were involved in nuclear weapons. After a while my Patient Advocate mentioned that his hearing was deteriorating and that he had an appointment to find out how much compensation he’d receive. He had served in Nam, so there was no question as to whether he’d be compensated, but just how much percentage is due him.
As I drove the three hours home I thought about the cost of the motel room that was coming out of pocket, the meals for a couple of days and the gasoline consumed to visit the doctor. I thought about the fifty dollars out of pocket for my doctor visits, mused about how much co-pay was required for medications, and wondered where my years old paperwork for compensation was hiding just now. I smiled at my wife and we talked about some of the wonderful times we had while in the Air Force. I told her that the Air Force had never missed a paycheck in the forty four years since I retired.
Now I am full out working on some more military memorials and to honor a number of KIA/MIA who have not yet been properly recognized. Working for the Heroes is my job I guess you could say, and trying to get the compensation I deserve is now my hobby.
Different Wars and Different Rules
