lest we forget

SPANGLER, RICHARD ALLEN

Rank / Branch:

  • SPECIALIST FIFTH CLASS, U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

  • 1944-07-29

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • HOSTILE, SMALL ARMS

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • GROUND

Other:

  • NOT MARRIED

Unit:

  • 25TH INFANTRY DIVISION

Date Of Loss:

  • 1966-11-05

Loss Coordinates:

  • TAY NINH

Catagory:

  • BODY RETURND

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • SPANGLER, RICHARD ALLEN, SPECIALIST FIFTH CLASS, U.S. ARMY, BIG SPRING, HOWARD COUNTY, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • COMBAT MEDICS BADGE, BRONZE STAR, PURPLE HEART WITH OAK LEAF CLUSTER, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDA, KOREA SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERICE MEDAL, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

  • Richard was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. He was the youngest child and son born to John Elmer and Lois Rogers Spangler. His father had been married before. His father's first marriage produced a son, Donald C. Spangler, who died at age 2. Richard had an older brother Gene born almost three years before. Richard's father died on April 25, 1953, when Richard was nine years old. His mother remarried to Walter B. Davis on June 24, 195Richard was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. He was the youngest child and son born to John Elmer and Lois Rogers Spangler. His father had been married before. His father's first marriage produced a son, Donald C. Spangler, who died at age 2. Richard had an older brother Gene born almost three years before. Richard's father died on April 25, 1953, when Richard was nine years old. His mother remarried to Walter B. Davis on June 24, 1955, in Corpus Christi and shortly thereafter the family moved to Big Spring and Richard attended Big Spring schools. He graduated in 1962 and joined the Army soon after. He completed basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas and AIT at Fort Sam Houston. Texas as a medic. He spent 13 months in Korea and then assigned to as a medic to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division at Scoffield Barracks in Hawaii. His regiment mobilized to Vietnam in March 1966.
  • Dau Tieng, Tay Ninh Province, November 3, 1966 - elements of the 196th Infantry Brigade and the 25th Infantry Division got into a heated fight with entrenched and bunkered VC troops, a fight that grew into a full-fledged battle fought over a three-day period. Landing Zone Lima Zulu, slightly north of where the 1st Bn, 27th Infantry, fought on November 3-4, 1966, drew some of the heaviest fighting beginning after C Company, 2/27 Inf, was inserted at about 2 P.M. on November 4, 1966.
  • C/2/27 moved south from LZ Lima Zulu, intending to link with 1/27, but moved only a few hundred meters before being stopped by VC dug into a tree line. Unable to move forward, with enemy troops infiltrating to their rear, the battalion and company commanders dead, and under fire from three sides, C/2/27 pulled together after nightfall, using a left flank displacement to get out of the "horseshoe" and avoid encirclement. The maneuver worked, and C/2/27 held out through the night amidst sporadic hand-to-hand fighting. By 1030 on 05 Nov, Alpha 1/27 fought through and relieved C/2/27.
  • At the same time, HHC and A Company, 2/27, were coming into LZ Lima Zulu, intending to take the VC from the rear, pounding them against the anvil formed by A/1/27 and C/2/27. It didn't work; the VC anticipated the move and the arriving troops found themselves in a "hot" LZ. As the day progressed additional forces were brought in, eventually encouraging the VC to break contact and withdraw from the field.
  • While the engagements cost the VC dearly, with several hundred known dead, the US infantrymen paid a high price - 50 men killed in action over the three-day period. Richard Spangler was one of five medics who were killed during the battle; he died at LZ Lima Zulu on the 3rd day of the fight.
  • Specialist Spangler was buried with full military honors in the Trinity Memorial Garden's Cemetery in Big Spring, Texas. He was survived by his mother and stepfather of Big Spring, his older brother Gene, who was serving with the U.S. Army in Italy and his half-brothers, Ray and Johnny Davis of his parent's home.
  • His stepfather passed away on November 30, 1992, and his mother passed away October 1, 2009, in Denver City, Texas. His stepfather is buried next to Richard and his mother about 50 feet away. His brother, Gene and wife live in Las Vegas, Nevada, his half-brother Ray Davis and wife live in Fort Worth and half-brother Johnny lives in Hobbs, New Mexico.
  • TRINITY MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY, BIG SPRING, TEXAS