{"id":41,"date":"2022-02-01T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-01T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/?p=41"},"modified":"2022-05-26T15:29:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T19:29:37","slug":"veterans-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/veterans-honor\/","title":{"rendered":"Restoring a Veteran&#8217;s Honor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-left has-text-color\" style=\"color:#003a5d\"><strong>Students at the UNC School of Law\u2019s Military and Veterans Law Clinic help veterans fight for upgrades or corrections in military discharges to make life-saving resources available to the former service members. For one North Carolina veteran, they restored all the honors he was owed \u2014 including his Purple Heart.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Story by Brandon Bieltz, University Communications. Video by UNC School of Law<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"John Spencer, Purple Heart Recipient\" width=\"798\" height=\"449\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CfOOdmMyw3k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>John Spencer was working the graveyard shift at the Quality Mills textile plant in Mount Airy, North Carolina, when his draft number came up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After training at Fort Bragg and Fort Knox, the 20-year-old was sent to South Vietnam in 1969, where he served for one year and 16 days as an Army armored reconnaissance specialist in the infantry.&nbsp;During that deployment, he was hit in the neck by shrapnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it wasn\u2019t just the enemy that presented challenges for Spencer abroad. Being a Black man in the Army provided its own struggles, including enduring racism and discrimination from a leader who called him lazy, conniving and much worse, he recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/John-Spencer-835x1024.png\" alt=\"John Spencer Army intake photo.\" class=\"wp-image-443\" width=\"209\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/John-Spencer-835x1024.png 835w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/John-Spencer-245x300.png 245w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/John-Spencer-768x942.png 768w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/John-Spencer-1253x1536.png 1253w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/John-Spencer.png 1314w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 209px) 100vw, 209px\" \/><figcaption>John Spencer joined the Army in 1969.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The unit would ultimately unilaterally discharge Spencer with an other than honorable discharge \u2014 the lowest administrative discharge in the military \u2014 for minor infractions. Spencer was told by this unit that the discharge would be upgraded once he was stateside again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That review never happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I landed in Washington, the atmosphere and function changed,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI was stripped of my uniform. My dog tags were taken away from me. I was given civilian clothes and sent to the airport and waited for a standby flight. When I had gotten to Washington, I began to feel like I was some kind of criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was sent home to North Carolina, disqualified for veterans benefits. He was eligible for the Purple Heart but never received it. He had earned a coveted combat infantryman badge and a Vietnam War Cross that he was never awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ashamed, he kept the details of his discharge a secret from his friends and family for nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, three years ago, Spencer met with Tar Heels from the UNC School of Law\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/law.unc.edu\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/military-and-veterans-law-clinic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Military and Veterans Law Clinic<\/a> and told his story. That group of Carolina Law students at the clinic advocated for Spencer and worked to restore his federal veteran status and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-text-color\" style=\"color:#952e46\">Experiential learning at Carolina Law<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Spencer\u2019s case is just one of dozens that the UNC School of Law\u2019s Military and Veterans Law Clinic has taken on since <a href=\"https:\/\/law.unc.edu\/people\/john-w-brooker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John Brooker \u201903<\/a> became director of the program in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/Brooker-edited-1022x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Professor John Brooker '03\" class=\"wp-image-408\" width=\"256\" height=\"256\" srcset=\"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/Brooker-edited-1022x1024.jpg 1022w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/Brooker-edited-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/Brooker-edited-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/Brooker-edited-768x770.jpg 768w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/Brooker-edited-1533x1536.jpg 1533w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/Brooker-edited-2044x2048.jpg 2044w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><figcaption>Professor John Brooker &#8217;03, Director of Military and Veterans Law Clinic<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The program provides pro bono legal support for low-income former service members who are fighting for an upgrade or correction to their military discharge status. Veterans with an other than honorable discharge are left without access to benefits and health care, even when health issues stem from their service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brooker, a clinical associate professor of law with more than 20 years of active-duty service in the Army, said it wasn\u2019t uncommon for service members to face discrimination and receive other than honorable discharges for minor offenses during the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe try to get those former service members veteran status,\u201d he said. \u201cThat opens the door to life-saving veteran\u2019s benefits that many should have had all along. But, as important as that, it restores the honor that they felt was taken from them. They were separated with a type of discharge that literally says they don\u2019t have honor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Isabelle Stevens \u201921 started working at the clinic following her first year at Carolina Law. One of her first cases was Spencer\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cLawyers \u2014 in public interest especially \u2014 really help people who would not get that help otherwise because they couldn\u2019t afford it,\u201d said Stevens, who will soon be commissioned as an officer in the Army\u2019s Judge Advocate General\u2019s Corps. \u201cHaving the opportunity to help somebody and help right some of the inequities that have occurred in their life was the highlight of my law school career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Along the way, she was also getting real experience on everything from researching the law to representing clients before military administrative boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re training law students to be better lawyers,\u201d Brooker said. \u201cWe\u2019re training law students on how to combine theory with practice and then giving them the opportunity to actually practice under the supervision of trained faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-text-color\" style=\"color:#952e46\">Real cases, real results<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>By the time he made his way to Carolina Law\u2019s clinic in his early 70s, Spencer was looking for one thing: the right to a military funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI wanted to have that flag draped across my casket,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With that goal, Stevens and three other law students combed through military and health records to create an application more than a thousand pages long that appealed Spencer\u2019s discharge on the grounds of discrimination and that the discharge was not conducted to protocol. Within those records and meetings with Spencer, the students also learned he had been hit in the neck by shrapnel during the war, making him eligible for the Purple Heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_27-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"John Spencer with Isabelle Stevens '21 (left) and John Brooker '03 (center) after being officially pinned with his Purple Heart.\" class=\"wp-image-444\" width=\"384\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_27-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_27-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_27-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_27-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_27-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><figcaption>John Spencer with Isabelle Stevens &#8217;21 (left) and John Brooker &#8217;03 (center) after being officially pinned with his Purple Heart.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier this year, the clinic team received the good news that Spencer\u2019s discharge had been upgraded and his honors would be restored. After five decades, he was finally granted full federal veteran status with full health care benefits and will receive his Purple Heart, combat infantryman badge and a Vietnam Gallantry Cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The clinic celebrated those results when Spencer visited the UNC School of Law to have the Purple Heart pinned to his chest by Carolina Law alumna and Army Brig. Gen. Alison C. Martin \u201900.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe poured our heart and soul into his case,\u201d Stevens said. \u201cI know that him getting these awards is not going to change his life in the way it would have if he got them when he should have, but it represents an inequality has been fixed. Being able to be part of that was the most inspiring part for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"577\" src=\"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_53-1024x577.jpg\" alt=\"John Spencer takes a moment to reflect before addressing the crowd at his Purple Heart pinning ceremony.\" class=\"wp-image-459\" srcset=\"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_53-1024x577.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_53-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_53-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_53-1536x866.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/01\/PurpleHeartEvent_53-2048x1155.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>John Spencer takes a moment to reflect before addressing the crowd at his Purple Heart pinning ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The students, Brooker said, are the ones who made it happen. Seeing budding lawyers fighting for a deserving client is what he considers the greatest reward of the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ve learned how to use their talents and education to help their fellow North Carolinians,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the folks they are helping have their faith in humanity restored because, often for the first time in decades, somebody has listened to their side of the story, believes in them and fought for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After spending 50 years keeping the details of his discharge quiet, Spencer\u2019s daughter is preparing a shadow box for him to display his awards and badges with pride. He will also receive his military funeral when the time comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like a burden was lifted,\u201d Spencer said. \u201cI\u2019ve been carrying it around all my life \u2014 the idea that this is negative, that this is bad or that I\u2019m not a complete person. It\u2019s a good feeling not to have that there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students at the UNC School of Law\u2019s Military and Veterans Law Clinic help veterans fight for upgrades or corrections in military discharges to make life-saving resources available to the former service members. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":704,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions\/704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/january-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}