When the end came he ceased to struggle. He pulled the boots of his soul together and with all his wretchedness stood inside, a superb soldier, waiting to execute smartly the mandates of death as he had done those of life.
JIM WAS ALWAYS anything but ostentatious about his West Point background, but his character and the nature of his service personified Duty, Honor, Country. Although he died before his most productive years, before his full potential had been revealed, Jim's commitment was total, his contribution exceptional, and his sacrifice supreme. He was an outstanding officer and a true gentleman; our Army and our Nation, while grateful for having had him, can ill afford his loss.
The citation of his Legion of Merit, awarded posthumously, reads:
. . . Captain Spruill's professional skill, diplomacy, and outstanding ability as a military leader contributed in great measure to the progress of the advisory and counterinsurgency effort of the United States in the Republic of Vietnam. His unique ability to communicate effectively and engender maximum effort among his Vietnamese counterparts resulted in marked improvements in the areas of physical security, training facilities, instructor motivation, and psychological factors. . . . His courageous efforts, dedicated devotion to duty, and willingness to assume responsibilities far beyond those normally expected . . .
Few, perhaps, knew Jim deeply as an individual, for he was not one of the crowd. Since he was a man largely unto himself, few could share fully or understand his goodness, his depth. He was a man of perception with the quiet strength of one who knows himself.
For those who did know him well, he was not only a friend but an inspiration. Shortly after Jim's death, "Wolfe," the village chief at Cai-Son where Jim was assigned during most of his months in Vietnam, wrote to Jim's wife, Barbara:
Now, the cruel law of Nature has taken my comrade in arms away into the perpetual light. But, I was also proud that among the messengers sent out to accomplish the peace mission for the world and at this small locality, Cai-Son Agroville, there was him: My great Captain! Because of his presence here, with his wisdom and strategy, they had to harm him very soon.
A former roommate expressed many of the same thoughts when he, too, wrote:
For my part, I have never found anyone more basically honest, more honorable, more forthright, or anyone so completely and genuinely sincere. Jim was a thinker. He was never willing to accept the pedagogical tirades of the classroom without asking 'why?' - without challenging false premises, without stripping away the sham of false tradition. He taught me introspection and made me aware that there are finer things in life than the rat-race quests for material and social gain.
Sensitive to people and perceptive of life, Jim expressed himself best in words. He once wrote, and in so doing beautifully expressed an essential element of his inner self:
No man is an island, and, because this is so, he must be selfish if he is to fulfill himself. He must cultivate his island, all the while knowing that perhaps there are no vessels on the horizons. You cannot chart such a man, you cannot encompass him, neither can you pass his way without experiencing the sweetness in the air and the strange comforting feeling that comes from the undefined nearness of something real yet unseen.
Jim cultivated his island, but he was selfish only unto himself. He left much for those who shared his life: his wife, Barbara; two children, Elizabeth and Mark; a brother, Mr. William C. Spruill; a sister, Mrs. Virginia Currie; and his mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. M. L. Nobles.
Included among his awards and decorations are: the Commendation Ribbon with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Legion of Merit, the Republic of Vietnam's Gallantry Cross with palm, and the National Order of the Republic of Vietnam, 5th class.
"The song of the sea waves is stilled
The music of the brooks in the fields grows faint
And voices rising from the multitude are silenced
I hear not any more save the hymn of Eternity
Merging with the soul's desire."
". . . Well Done - Be Thou at Peace."
|
