Ft. Chiswell High Honors Vietnam Veteran

By Ashley Roberts
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: March 18, 2008

A local high school wants the memory of one of its former classmates, killed in the line of duty, to live on. Sgt. Kenneth Darrell Spencer graduated from Fort Chiswell High School in 1967. Soon after, he was in the army and sent to serve in Vietnam. In 1969, his unit came under fire and Spencer was killed.

He died at age 21...making him the first and only graduate of Fort Chiswell High School to die in Vietnam. “We’d talk about the people who were deceased in our class and Darrell’s name kept coming up,” says 1967 class president Charles Freeman. “He was the first one who lost his life in our class and just his memory...each student that graduated with him carried that with them and they remembered Darrell.”

To make sure Spencer is remembered the class of 1967 is raising $10,000 for a plaque and memorial endowment scholarship in his honor. They say it’s a small gesture to pay tribute to someone who made a big sacrifice.

It also means a great deal to Freeman; one of Spencer’s good friends as well as a Vietnam Veteran. “This gives me personally a chance to say to Darrell, you know, you’re not forgotten. Your service is not forgotten and we’re going to honor you as long as we can brother.”

Honor a man who Freeman says made the “supreme sacrifice.”

Spencer was promoted to Sergeant right before he was killed in 1969. He received several awards including the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Ribbon.

To read more about Spencer, click here to read a newspaper article from our media partners at the Wytheville Enterprise:
http://www.swvatoday.com/comments/service_and_sacrifices/news/1969/