Lakeview High pays its respects

A Korean War soldier used a bazooka to wipe out a machine gun nest that killed his friend.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

CORTLAND — Robert Spencer bowed his head as he silently stood in front of a soldier’s grave replica with tears streaming down his face.

A rifle stood erect with a steel helmet perched atop it. A set of dog tags loosely hung from the rifle with a pair of combat boots in front of the weapon.

“This breaks me up every time,” Spencer said Thursday in a soft voice as he turned away to wipe away his tears.

Spencer, of Cortland, was one of several veterans who attended Lakeview High School’s third annual Veterans Day program.

Veterans Day is Sunday.

Spencer served as an Air Force military policeman guarding aircraft in Vietnam from May 1969 to May 1970. A good friend, Andy Sinchak, was killed in action while in the Army during Spencer’s tour of duty. Having been exposed to the defoliate Agent Orange used by the military to clear jungle areas, Spencer is on disability.

“This is terrific,” Sonny Haines, also of Cortland, said of the Lakeview program. Haines served in the Korean War from 1951 to 1953 and vividly recalls the day he was holding a friend in their foxhole when he died.

They were in a 2nd Infantry Division convoy when it was raked by machine gun fire. After he held his friend in his arms as he died of his wounds, Haines and another soldier grabbed a bazooka and took out the gun emplacement.

The Veterans Day program was developed by high school Principal Fred Kunar.

“It’s part of our responsibility to pass on this heritage to our students,” Kunar said.

Guest speaker Army Col. David Yeropoli, a doctor, challenged students to serve in a capacity to keep the nation strong and free.

“American patriotism is alive and well in today’s armed forces,” Dr. Yeropoli said.

Dr. Yeropoli, a Campbell native who lives in Warren, has served three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He served as the medical officer at Abu Ghraib, a U.S. prison in Iraq that became known for its mistreatment of some prisoners.

Despite the negative publicity, Dr. Yeropoli said this country should be proud of how the soldiers conducted themselves.

During a mortar attack on the prison, Dr. Yeropoli said he saw a soldier remove his body armor and helmet and put them on a prisoner.

In another instance, he recalled, a prisoner who underwent a kidney transplant had no anti-rejection medication. The soldiers collected $120 and went to a Baghdad pharmacy to get the medication for the prisoner.

He said these are examples of the kind of solders who served at Abu Ghraib.

Prisoners of wars and the missing in action weren’t forgotten.

James Young, a board member of the Trumbull County Veterans Service Commission, explained to the students the symbolism of items set up on a table.

A white table cloth represents the purity of service; a red rose stands for the blood they may have shed; an inverted glass is there because they can’t toast their comrades; and red ribbons are present calling for an accounting of all POWs and MIAs.

yovich@vindy.com