Honor Restored And Honors Presented: Veteran, Law Students Warm The Heart
John Spencer receives standing ovation following the presentation of his Purple Heart and additional honors.
Late on a cold and gray November afternoon, an audience gathered beneath a tent in Chapel Hill. Their purpose was to honor John Spencer, a veteran of the U.S. Army who was denied fair treatment following his service in Vietnam more than 50 years ago.
An annoying drizzle persisted.
Martin Brinkley, dean of the UNC School of Law and a past president of the North Carolina Bar Association and Foundation, called the proceedings to order. He provided context for the event, from its proximity to Veterans Day to the impact of North Carolina’s military community to the significance of the law school’s Military and Veterans Law Clinic.
Fellow NCBA members John W. Brooker, a 20-year Army veteran and 2003 graduate of the law school who now directs the clinic, and 3L Isabelle Rose Holland Stevens, also provided remarks. Stevens was among the law students who had advocated for Spencer, a Black man who was seeking to have an unjustified “other than honorable discharge” upgraded, as he had been promised when he returned from Vietnam more than five decades ago.
Spencer was seeking neither benefits nor recognition, both of which were richly deserved and long overdue. Nor was he expecting to receive the Purple Heart that he deserved for being struck in the neck by shrapnel while serving with the 9th Infantry Division, or the Combat Infantryman Badge and Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation, both of which he had also earned.
John Spencer acknowledges the UNC Military and Veterans Law Clinic for restoring his veteran’s status
And he certainly wasn’t expecting to be the guest of honor at a formal ceremony, replete with color guard and dignitaries, including N.C. House Speaker Tim Moore, members of the UNC Board of Trustees, and professors Stephen Valentine of North Carolina Central University School of Law and Ellie Morales of Wake Forest University School of Law, who attended on behalf of their respective veterans law clinics.
Spencer simply wanted his veteran’s status restored so that an American flag could be draped across his casket when he died.
This is a marvelous story, and one best told by the folks who deserve the credit for bringing it to light and righting the wrongs they could right – see more here from the UNC School of Law. They are the ones who fought for Spencer, and they are the ones Spencer thanked when it came his time to speak.
Removing his covid mask for the first time during the program, Spencer fought back tears as he acknowledged the standing ovation and those who delivered it. He acknowledged the dedication and determination of the law students, and thanked those who made their efforts possible.
And he spoke about the power of education and its impact on his story, which now includes an unforgettable chapter that culminated on a cold and gray November afternoon in Chapel Hill.
An annoying drizzle persisted, but if you looked hard enough and thought deeply enough about what had just transpired, you could make out the setting sun peeking through the clouds.
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.