This story is unique in that it is about a tragedy, but unlike classical tragedies, it ends well. For 50 years, the central character of this story, John Spencer, Jr., lived with the difficult burden of an injustice that has shaped much of his life since his service in the Army and as a combat veteran in Vietnam. That burden was the legacy of a “less than honorable” discharge.
There are, of course, external realities that go with such a discharge. That label follows you everywhere and affects every part of one’s life from finding jobs to getting benefits to how the world sees you. But it has an even larger effect on one’s interior sense of oneself. “Less than honorable discharge.” Those words are heavy indeed. If one accepts that label of oneself being “less than honorable,” it can have a crippling effect not only on how the world reacts to you, but on your own self-image and sense of self-worth.
Spencer went to Vietnam in 1969 at the age of 20 and served as an Army armored reconnaissance specialist in the infantry. During his time in Vietnam, he was wounded in combat, being struck in the neck with shrapnel, but he also experienced discrimination from his own command. I was not able to find out what the Army accused him of back then, but only that he was given a “Less Than Honorable Discharge” by reason of some “minor infractions.”
At the time of his discharge, he says, “I was given civilian clothes and sent to the airport and waited for a ‘standby’ flight. When I had gotten to Washington, I began to feel like I was some kind of criminal.”
For the past 50 years he has carried that burden in silence. Understandably, he never talked about it, or his combat experiences.
Fast forward 50 years. Students in the Military and Veterans Clinic of the University of North Carolina Law school took up the effort to restore Spencer’s honor and to help him gain the benefits that all veterans are due, but which had been denied him for five decades because of the kind of discharge he was given.
The work of those University of North Carolina students on Spencer’s behalf finally came to positive results when earlier this year they were notified that Spencer’s federal veterans status had been restored along with full veterans health benefits. On Nov. 4, 2021, he was also officially awarded his Purple Heart, a Combat Infantry Badge and a Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross for his service and sacrifice in Vietnam.
One can imagine the burden that was lifted off of John Spencer, Jr’s. mind when he was told that he was no longer “less than honorable,” but that, in fact, his honorable veterans status for his service in the Army and in Vietnam had been restored. To have his veteran status restored along with all of the benefits and to finally receive his military awards, moved him to tears during the ceremonies at the University of North Carolina.
We are happy for John Spencer and wish him many graces and blessings over the rest of his life. We thank him for his service to the nation. Hooah!