William Spencer remembered

MIDDLETOWN — The forcefulness of the knock at the door Thursday night alarmed David Spencer.

"I didn't want to answer it," Spencer said. "You could tell that it was a Marine behind the door. I didn't have to look. I knew right then something was wrong. Either my boy was seriously injured or he was gone."

When Spencer opened the front door of his Middletown home, there stood Gunnery Sgt. Leon Michiline.

Spencer didn't need to hear the numbing news. He already knew.

"He almost hit the floor," said David Spencer's wife, Dawn.

Spencer's son, Lance Cpl. William D. Spencer, 20, was killed Thursday in action on the streets of Fallujah. David Spencer said his son was shot several times during an ambush as he pulled a fellow Marine to safety.

Noel Melton, one of Spencer's best friends from elementary school, and one of the six from Paris, Tenn., who enlisted in the Marines and volunteered to serve in Iraq, held Spencer's hand as he died.

"He didn't go alone," David Spencer said Thursday as he smoked Marlboro Lights on his porch, surrounded by his wife and daughter and son-in-law.

Two other Marines — Cpl. Christopher Esckelson, 22, of Vassar, Mich., and Lance Cpl. Nicholas Miller, 20, of Silverwood, Mich., also were killed during the combat operations.

William "Lil' Bill" Spencer was born in Cincinnati where he lived with his biological mother, Julie. He attended Milford High School through his freshman year. He moved to Tennessee to live with his father and stepmother. He graduated from Henry County High School in Paris, Tenn., where he was a standout wide receiver and cornerback. He attended Murray State University in Kentucky, then joined the Marine Reserves to help pay for college.

Spencer was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve's 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Nashville, Tenn. When a Marine company from Saginaw, Mich., needed support, Spencer, along with five friends, volunteered to serve in Iraq.

As David Spencer reminisced about fatherhood, he seemed uncomfortable, yet unfazed.

"I'm a big tough guy," the 1978 Middletown High School graduate said, choking back tears. "This ain't easy. We're all human."

David and Dawn Spencer said they frequently communicated with their son on the Internet. On Dec. 27 — one day before his death — Spencer thanked them for his Christmas box, which included hand warmers, candy, hot chocolate and cigarettes.

Now they're left with memories.

"He loved being a Marine," his father said. "He always said that was his great accomplishment. You could tell, even when we wrote back and forth, that he was a different man."

A father's tears were wiped away and replaced by a large smile. Ten years were erased and David and William — a father and young son — sat on a bank fishing for catfish.

"I always called him 'worm,'" his father said. "He refused for me to bait his own hook."

And the nickname stuck.

David Spencer was asked what went through his mind when he looked at his son's Marine picture, the one of him wearing his dress uniform. He buried his head in his hands, then, with a Marine force — much like the knock at the door — answered: "You don't have enough pen and paper."

There was a pause.

"Man, that's my baby, the greatest Marine who ever lived," he said. "Part of my soul is gone forever. That's a void that I will never fill. I don't want to think about ever going fishing again.

"I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."

From the Journal News

Related Link:
William D. Spencer killed during combat operations