Posted on 08/19/2006 8:24:59 PM PDT by budanski
BLOOMINGTON -- U.S. Army Col. Dirk Spanton lived with the possibility of dying every day during the 32 months he served with Special Forces in Iraq. The Bloomington man was shot at by insurgents, sent to minefields to disarm explosives and once had a rocket-propelled grenade come within feet of ending his life.
After three tours of duty in the desert, the 50-year-old former ROTC instructor finally returned home to his wife and five children on Memorial Day.
Within days, the family’s joy turned to sorrow as Spanton was hospitalized with a mysterious illness. Doctors later diagnosed him with cancer of the liver bile ducts and now say he has six months to live.
The illness was crushing to the family, but Spanton keeps it in perspective after serving with some soldiers who never got to come back home.
“I feel lucky,” Spanton said this week as he draped an arm around the shoulder of his 9-year-old daughter, Megan. “I could have gotten killed while I was over there (in Iraq) and not gotten to say goodbye to my family. This way, I’m lucky. How many people get to say goodbye to their kids, their wife and their family? You don’t like the short timeframe, but it’s at least a timeframe.”
Much has changed during the last three months for the Spantons. Fighting cancer through chemotherapy and readying the family for the day they all know is coming has made the summer difficult, said Julie Spanton, Dirk’s wife.
Fresh tears came to Julie’s eyes Thursday as her husband donned his uniform to accept the Army’s Legion of Merit Award and Combat Action Badge at his home in Bloomington.
“It’s the first time he’s put his uniform on since he’s been back from Iraq,” Julie Spanton said with tears streaming down her face. “He’s lost 40 pounds already, and he’s very disgusted with how he looks in his uniform.”
The Legion of Merit Award honors Spanton for his more than 23 years of meritorious service spent serving in positions of increasing responsibility in the Illinois National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve.
Army officials presented Dirk Spanton with the awards Thursday. Julie Spanton said her husband is a low-key person who initially asked the Army to put the awards “in the mail.” His superiors turned down the request.
Dirk Spanton is proud of what he and other military personnel accomplished in Iraq. Many of the positive images of Iraqis and Americans working side by side to rebuild the nation aren’t shown in the media, he said.
Doctors believe the cancer had been spreading through Spanton’s body for a while, but the symptoms of the illness — back soreness and fatigue — were masked by being in combat.
Spanton said his back was sore and he was fatigued, but it seemed natural since he was constantly wearing a 40-pound flak vest and sleeping four to six hours per night.
Moreover, Spanton said he felt strong before falling ill days after he returned home. In March, he was bench-pressing 205 pounds in repetitions of 10 several times a week. He weighed 188 pounds then.
That seems like ages ago.
Now, Spanton spends each moment he can with Julie and his five children, Ken, 24, Randy, 20, Derek, 17, Craig, 15 and Megan.
Doctors originally said he’d have two months to live after he was diagnosed, but have since changed their estimate to six months.
Part of that is due to the chemotherapy, which leaves him exhausted. But doctors are hoping it’s shrinking the deadly tumor inside Spanton.
“I’m hoping for a couple extra months, maybe longer,” Spanton says. “I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Dirk Spanton
Age: 50
Occupation: U.S. Army Special Forces (Civil Affairs Advance Detachment) serving in Iraq for last three years
Rank: Colonel
Years of service: 23 in Illinois Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve
Family: Wife Julie, 44, and children Ken, 24, Randy, 20, Derek, 17, Craig, 15, and Megan, 9
U.S. Army Col. Dirk Spanton, left, receives the Combat Action Badge from retired U.S. Army Col. Tom Gorski, right, as U.S. Army Lt. Col. Paul Hettich, center, reads off the commendation order during a ceremony in the Spanton home, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006, in Bloomington, Ill. Spanton, 50, survived three tours and 32 months in Iraq, and since returning home on Memorial Day he has found out that he has just months to live because of cancer. (AP Photo/Pantagraph, Steve Smedley)
U.S. Army Col. Dirk Spanton, gaunt from chemotherapy, gets a kiss from his wife, U.S. Army Lt. Col. Julie Spanton, as U.S. Army Lt. Col. Paul Hettich, right, looks on during an award ceremony on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006, in Bloomington, Ill. (AP Photo/Pantagraph, Steve Smedley)
U.S. Army Colonel Dirk Spanton, right, watches as his sons, from left: Randy; Craig; Ken and Derek, help prepare snacks following a commendation ceremony held in his Bloomington, Ill., home on Aug.10, 2006. Spanton survived three tours and 32 months in Iraq, only to come home and find out he has just months to live because of cancer. Now, he spends every spare moment with his family which includes his wife, Julie, and daughter Megan, not shown. (AP Photo/Pantagraph, Steve Smedley)
U.S. Army Col. Dirk Spanton's uniform hangs in the living room of his home as he waits on the couch, right, for guests to arrive, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2006, in Bloomington, Ill. Spanton, who served with the Special Forces in Iraq, returned home on Memorial Day and found out shortly afterward that he has just months to live because of cancer. (AP Photo/Pantagraph, Steve Smedley)
Leni
I shudder to think where we would be with out such fine Patriots and their families.
Silent prayer for Col. Spanton and his family.
Heartbreaking!
From the comments page:
COL Mark Hendrix wrote on August 17, 2006 7:51 AM:
"Dirk, from all of us in your "other" family, thank you not just for your service but for your example, living the Army Values and the Warrior Ethos every moment of every day. In times like these, some wonder where our heroes come from, but the answer, as always, is that they were here all along. You're the officer the rest of us are trying to be. "
1SG C. wrote on August 15, 2006 2:20 PM:
"Sir, I can only remember the good times that were spent across the pond, the chow hall, MWR activities, and you always with a smile on your face. Dont think i've ever seen you down. You helped keep the soldiers spirits up in a place we would rather not be in. Thank you sir. In my life i've come to realize every thing happens for a reason. Even though its hard to figure this one out, my only conclusion I can come up with is that heaven needs a good G-4. You are one of the best. God Bless you and your family. My prayers and thoughts are with you."
SGM Bill Sheehan wrote on August 14, 2006 8:49 AM:
"During my convoluted days on deployment, the LTC Spanton and I became acquainted in Kuwait. He joined our team at the Humanitarian Operations Center, and immediately took control of his area of responsibility. He impressed the entire team with both his knowledge, and his unassuming attitued. He was always available to teach and learn. When our replacements arrived, the incoming staff in Iraq realized that Dirk was an absolute asset to the logisitical side of the house, and re-assigned him back to Iraq. When we learned that Dirk was promoted to Col. we were all happy that 'finally' a deserving soldier was promoted because of his capabilities. We know him to be a devoted and conscientious soldier. To see him receiving his LOM and CAB medals, brings a great deal of bittersweet pride. I am soooo happy to have served with your husband, and your father. That hell hole of a place called Iraq, is in a better state because of him. The children of Kuwait have an unknown angel. Rest comfortably, my friend... Shukran. Shukran. Shukran. "
You are a class act Colonel Spanton SIR.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Prayers for this great man and his family.
Truly a class Act.....I shudder when I read these stories of good people fighting cancer.....lived thru that with my mother and my wife..
Prayers and well wishes to a Hero!
Wow. I'm sorry. That's a lot to bear.
Miracle prayer ping
Sad prayerful ping, MamaB.
Colonel Spanton is now in my evening prayers. I pray, also, that the healing Lord will hold him close.
trussell, send this to the prayer list?
we can DO something for this man, I'll bet.........
Well done, Smart, very well done.
My prayers are with this brave man this evening.
Prayed
Your servant, Colonel Spanton, has served his nation well. Now, Father, we ask You to give him new revelations of the healing he has through Jesus Christ. Help him to know that You alone number his days and that You alone are our Healer. We pray for him to receive the blessing of healing that was wrought for him on the cross of Calvary. May he and his family trust in you through the dark days as well as the light. May they emerge victorious from this trial of faith, for nothing is too difficult for You. Great God of all creation, we praise You, and confess that by the stripes of Jesus, Colonel Spanton has been healed. In the Name of the Savior, Amen.
Carolyn
Carolyn
There is a saying in the Army that the best men are the Colonels who do not make it to Brigadier General, although its anonymous author may not have envisioned this reason.
I hope that the Spanton family understand that they have the gratitude of the nation (maybe two), and further hope that that gratitude is some small comfort to them in this time of loss and heartbreak.
Religious faith helps. Also helpful has been asking those who know him to take the time to write down a small story. These stories can be collected into a scrapbook, which will be especially comforting to the younger kids in the years ahead.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F
Col. Dirk Spanton passed away on October 13, 2006.
Don't know if this was posted... please advise. Thank you.
Oh, I am so sorry to hear this...
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