The-Passing-of-A-Warrior-Hero

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

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The Passing of A Warrior Hero

By Rick Mowles, BS, DC, DICAK, DABCO

Vietnam Veteran USMC 68-70

1st Battalion 9th Marines

On December 23, 2009, in a hospice center in Waco, Texas, a man by the name of Robert L. Howard passed away as the result of pancreatic cancer. This gentleman was 70 years of age at the time of his death. No detailed news of his death was broadcast in the media or newspapers. Certainly no publicity or major news coverage to rival the magnitude of Michael Jackson’s death.

So who was Robert L. Howard?

Colonel Robert L. Howard was one of those greater than life individuals. He was the most decorated Vietnam veteran and possibly the most decorated American soldier of the modern era. He is the only soldier in our nation’s history to be nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor three times for three separate actions within a thirteen month period. Since 1917, Congress established that the Congressional Medal of Honor could only be awarded once to an individual. Men who served with him said that he deserved all three.

President Richard M. Nixon awarded Colonel Howard the Congressional Medal of Honor at the White House in 1971. His other awards for valor include the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, four Bronze Stars with combat Valor, and numerous lesser decorations including eight Purple Hearts. He was wounded 14 times in 54 months of combat duty in Vietnam. He received his decorations for valorous actions while serving as an NCO (Sergeant First Class).

Robert L. Howard grew up in Opelika,

Alabama and enlisted in the U.S. Army’s 101st. Airborne Division in 1956 at age seventeen. He received a direct appointment from Master Sergeant to 1st. Lieutenant in 1969 and retired as a full Colonel in 1992 after 36 years service.

During Vietnam, he served in the U.S. Army

Special Forces (Green Berets) and spent most of his five tours in the super -secret MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observations Group) also known as Special Operations Group, which ran classified cross-border operations into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam. Members of these groups carried out some of the most daring and dangerous missions ever conducted by the U.S. military. The under strength sixty-man recon company at Kontum, in which he served, was the Vietnam War’s most highly decorated unit of its size, with five Medals of Honor. It was for his actions while serving on a mission to rescue a fellow soldier in Cambodia, that he was nominated for the third Medal of Honor. He was the last Vietnam Special Forces Medal of Honor recipient still on active duty when he retired on September 29, 1992. His story is told in John Paster’s excellent book, SOG The Secret Wars of America’s Commandos in Vietnam. During the interim of his military career, Colonel Howard managed to get two Masters’ Degrees. After retiring from the Army in 1992, he worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Colonel Howard often visited US Servicemen to speak about his combat experiences, making five trips to Iraq. During a visit there in April, together with Gary Littrell, another Medal of Honor recipient, one soldier asked how they had remained motivated during the war and, in turn, how they had motivated their men.

"We had no choice but to stay motivated as leaders," Howard said. "As for our soldiers, we reminded them that God and country came before our needs."

Colonel Howard leaves his daughters Denicia Howard of Florida, Melissa Gentsch of Hewitt, Texas, and Rosslyn Howard of California; a son, Robert, Jr., an army sergeant, of California; and four grandchildren.

I wrote this article to honor a true American, courageous soldier and man. It is mind boggling that none of the major news networks including CBS, NBC or ABC took the time to honor this incredible man. The antiwar mentality that permeates our news media is a disgrace, travesty and insult to those brave soldiers and Marines who serve and die for our country. We can sit and be bored to death by hours of inane talk about Michael Jackson, Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton and others, but no mention of somebody as courageous and worthy asColonel Robert L. Howard.

May all soldiers and Marines take a moment to honor this great soldier and offer prayers for his family. We must never ever forget, take for granted, or lose respect for the life of Colonel Robert L. Howard. God Bless you Colonel Howard!

"Old Soldiers never die; they just fade away. And like the old soldier in that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, a soldier who tried to do his duty as

God gave him the sight to see that duty."

-General Douglas MacArthur

Rick Mowles

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