Smoke Signals™ Online - A Veterans Day tribute

A Veterans Day tribute

Fallen hero finally receives his honors

By Jane Galvin
On July 8, 1944, my father, Colonel Daniel S. Spengler, was killed in LaHaye du Puit, weeks after the Normandy invasion. He was part of the 300th Combat Engineer Battalion. He and a six-man patrol had entered the town to see if it was cleared for engineer work. He was last seen giving the all clear signal to the OP from the railroad bridge.

When he was later reported captured, a search party was sent out. My father was found dead from enemy machine gun fire. He left behind a wife, young daughter and two toddler sons.

During World War II, word was slow reaching the families of loved ones confirming the death of a family member. No Army chaplain arrived at our door. Instead the wife of a West Point classmate of my father arrived one night to tell us the awful news. Her husband had written to her about my dad's death.

Jane Galvin's father, Col. Daniel S. Spengler, had this photo taken of himself while in England serving on Gen. Eisenhower's staff and helping to plan the Normandy invasion. Col Spangler told his wife that he wanted his children to have pictures of him so they would never forget him. He had a premonition that he would not be returning home after the war.

Finally a telegram did arrive from the War Department finalizing our worst fears.

Much later we received a foot locker with my father's personal belongings. In it were the Purple Heart and the French equivalent of the Silver Star.

It always bothered my mother that the country he served so lovingly and willingly never saw fit to give him the same honor. Or so we thought.

Our oldest son has always been a history buff and especially interested in any information he could gather about the grandfather he never knew.

On June 6, 2008, our son, Jim, Jr., "Googled" his grandfather's unit and up came a whole history, just recently posted. In that history of his grandfather it was mentioned that he had received the Silver Star, posthumously, a few days after he was killed. We were stunned!

In one of those strange twists of fate, my husband's cousin is a lawyer with the National Archives in Washington, WWII division. Jim placed a call to his cousin who said that he would check it out. He asked, if indeed the record was correct, did we want a presentation ceremony. I declined. I just wanted the award for posterity's sake, especially for our son, Jim, who did all the research.

One evening, a couple of months after the phone call, FedEx arrived at the door with a box. Inside was the Silver Star with the citation on what led to the honor, the Purple Heart with another citation, and two other medals from the European and African campaigns.

I'm glad I was able to have this knowledge, that my mother would have dearly loved to have known, even if it was 64 years late.

These awards will someday go to our oldest son, who made this possible. But not until he cleans up his office!

In the meantime, this Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, will have even more meaning to our family. A brave young man (34 when he died) who loved his country and lived by the West Point motto, "Duty, Honor, Country" has left behind unforgettable evidence of his bravery.

I love you, Dad!

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