Cobourg woman finds her soldier
10/15/2009
Posted By CECILIA NASMITH CNASMITH@NORTHUMBERLANDTODAY.COM
Posted 28 mins ago
Cobourg resident Linda Roberts was a Toronto
teenager and an outspoken opponent of the war in Vietnam in 1967, when
she bought a $2 prisoner-of-war bracelet for American soldier Donald R.
Spoon.
Having just recently gotten her first computer, Roberts enlisted the
aid of a friend to see what had happened to Spoon. She said she went
through a box of Kleenex as she read the details, but they were happy
tears -- Spoon is alive and well and retired in Texas.
These bracelets, simple metal bands each engraved with the name of an
American prisoner or missing soldier in the war in Southeast Asia, were
sold by the National League of POW/MIA Families (the acronym stands for
Prisoner of War/Missing in Action). Roberts even sold a few of them
herself on behalf of the organization.
She wore her own bracelet faithfully for some 40 years. All that
time, people kept noticing and asking her about it -- which was probably
part of the point of the bracelet all along. She is delighted and
relieved that there's a happy ending for the name engraved on it.
Twe n t y-f i v e -y e a r -o l d Donald Ray Spoon volunteered for
duty in Vietnam. He was based in Da Nang and had 38 missions under his
belt when, on Jan. 21, 1967, his F4C Phantom was shot down on a MIG Cap
mission over Kep Air Field in North Vietnam.
He was released March 4, 1973. While being debriefed at Scott Air
Force Base in Illinois, Spoon met U. S. Air Force Capt. Alice Harriet
Braswell. They were married Aug. 25, not long after he began work toward
his master's degree in biological science at Colorado State University.
After the wonderful welcome he received back home, Spoon decided he
could best continue to serve his country as a doctor. At the same time,
he wanted to stay in the Air Force as long as he could.
He went on to medical school in Missouri at Washington University,
then entered a residency in family practice before serving with the U.
S. Air Force as a flight surgeon and biomedical researcher.
Spoon and his wife would raise three children. He retired as a
colonel in May 1994 and now lives in Texas.
Roberts said she wrote him a letter through the POW Network which,
accidentally but fortuitously, was sent on July 4, which is America's
Independence Day. She received a letter back, with additional
information.
"I call him 'my soldier,'" she said.
Roberts immediately sent her bracelet out to have
Spoon's date of return engraved on the band. When she picked it up from
the engraving shop, she said shared her story with other customers who
were present. It brought a tear to more than one eye.
Comments they made have gotten her wondering if something similar
might be done to show support of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, the
ones who have fallen and the ones who are still fighting. Roberts
welcomes anyone with ideas to contact her at pinkpk1949@gmail.ca
or lakeportbuddys@live.ca
.
Roberts is now preparing a gift box for her soldier, with postcards
of Cobourg, an original 1967 peace-dove pin, a small rectangular
Canadianflag lapel pin, a newer and bigger Canadian-flag lapel pin, a
flashlight with the Canadian flag ("so you will always have
light," the card will say) and a small compass ("so you will
never lose your way").
Also enclosed, now that it's served its purpose, is the newly
engraved POW bracelet that will remind Spoon he was always in her
thoughts.
All tied up, of course, with a yellow ribbon.
|
Name: Donald R. Spoon
Rank/Branch: O2/United States Air Force
Unit: 480TFS
Date of Birth: 22 December 41
Home City of Record: Mound City MO
Date of Loss: 21 January 1967
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 213600N 1062800E
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: F4C, #0810
Incident No: 0580
Missions: 38
Other Personnel in Incident: William J. Baugh, returnee
Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews.
REMARKS: 730304 RELEASED BY DRV
SOURCE: WE CAME HOME copyright 1977
Captain and Mrs. Frederic A Wyatt (USNR Ret), Barbara Powers Wyatt, Editor
P.O.W. Publications, 10250 Moorpark St., Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Text is reproduced as found in the original publication (including date and
spelling errors).
UPDATE - 09/95 by the P.O.W. NETWORK, Skidmore, MO
DONALD RAY SPOON
Captain - United States Air Force
Shot Down: January 21, 1967
Released: March 4, 1973
BIOGRAPHY:
I was born in Mound City, Missouri on 22 December 1941. I lived there until
1952, then moved to Trenton, Missouri where I graduated from high school.
While there I was active in the high school band (trombone 6 years), glee
club, mixed chorus, and sports (football and track). I was also active in Boy
Scouts and was a member of the Trenton Nazarene Church. I then attended one
year of the Naval Academy Preparatory School in 1959 to March 1960. In June
1960 1 entered the Air Force Academy and graduated on June 3, 1964. While at
the Academy I was active mainly in the Protestant Choir and the Chorale. I
received a BS degree with a major in Engineering Science. From June 1964 to
August 1965 I was in pilot training at Vance AFB, Enid, Oklahoma. September
1965 to February 1966 I attended F-4C training at Davis Monthan AFB, Arizona.
After completing F4C training I reported to my first assignment-81st TAC
Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters, England. I volunteered for Southeast Asia and
was sent to Da Nang Air Base in the Republic of South Vietnam in late 1966. I
flew about 40 missions and was shot down on a MIG Cap mission over Kep Air
Field, North Vietnam on 21 January 1967. I was released 4 March 1973 and
returned to the United States.
SINCE RETURN
I debriefed at Scott AFB, Illinois. While there I met Captain Alice Braswell.
Our relationship grew and resulted in our marriage on 25 August 1973. We
honeymooned in the St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and Jamaica. I requested to go
to graduate school and reported to Colorado State University, Fort Collins,
Colorado on 4 June 1973 to start on my Masters Degree in Biological Science. I
have completed my first quarter and have really enjoyed it.
FUTURE
Alice and I are looking forward to a wonderful life together. Our main
ambition is to raise as many children as we can afford and give them all the
love we have in us. In support of this major goal I hope to be able to attend
medical school and become a physician. Alice is a nurse and has been a great
help to me already. We are looking forward to this opportunity together. If I
am not accepted to medical school, I plan to teach in the Life Science
Department at the USAF Academy.
My ambition to become a doctor has been heightened by the wonderful welcome
home I received. I hope that in my capacity as a doctor I can continue to
serve my country and the wonderful people therein. I plan to stay in the Air
Force until I am kicked out.
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