Bill Spencer. *596*

In 1966, Bill Spencer graduated in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, being only the second class to graduate. Similar to Mr. Jim he decided there wasn’t much for him to do after high-school, thought unlike Mr. Jim, Bill really could not afford to go to college either. With those factors at hand, Bill enlisted in the Marine Corps. As he was enlisted, he was sent to boot camp for 8 weeks. Typically, boot camp was 12 weeks long, but as the war in Vietnam increased; the length of boot camp decreased. After he completed boot camp, he was allowed to come home. However, it was only for 20 days. Prior to the 20 days back home, he was then transferred to California. In California, Bill completed the last stages of his training and gained some knowledge to what the future might hold for him and the other marines. On October 10th, 1967, Bill Spencer was flown to Vietnam.
As he arrived to Vietnam, he explained to us, that nothing really happened in the beginning of his time there. In January of 1968, the Marine Corps were forced into a 77 day battle. Bill told us about how there were only 5,680 marines. In an article that Bill had read by the head of the Vietnam soldiers, General Giaup, he expressed that there were more than 100,000 Vietnamese men surrounding the marines. Also in the article, General Giaup explained how if the marines would have gone one more week of bombing them, the Vietnamese soldiers were going to go to the General Peace Assembly and surrender.
In Spencer’s “free time”, he and the other marines were told to write letters as much as possible to their loved ones. There were sometimes that Spencer’s family would go months without hearing from him. From time to time, the supplies helicopters could not land and give the items the men needed because they would be gunned down on the landing strip. Another time Bill had recalled in his preparation time, was a time that the marines needed to go wash up in a creek nearby. In that creek, being most of the men were only 19 at the time, they played like kids while washing up. It was one thing they got to enjoy in their time in that horrid place.
Today being 67, he is married and has two kids, a son and a daughter. But also in the present Bill suffers from an acute case of PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a terrifying event — either experiencing it or witnessing it. Symptoms may include flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event (http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/basics/definition/con-20022540)). Bill finds it to take a nap, he just can’t. He voiced to us that he gets angry and irritable, that it’s sometimes too hard to concentrate. He described that he really doesn’t know why. Bill believed that it could be that he is just afraid something is going to happen or rather. Bill says that he still has nightmares and wakes up at night, that when he lays down at night he is always wide awake and alert. Also he expressed to us, that he goes to a support group, because it really helps. When Bill was asked if he would go back knowing what he knew now, he told us that he probably would. His father was his idol and his father was in the war, and he wanted to follow in his footsteps. Bill Spencer is a very good and brave man.