ROY CARTER SPANN

ACTUAL ACTIVE DUTY RECORDS

NOTE - While there are notes Spann was assigned to an SF unit - there is no indication he started, qualified, and graduated the Special Forces Q Course and earned the right to wear the SF Tab. His MOS with the unit was 71L3P - with no indicator of Special Forces. Additionally - there is no evidence he completed airborne training. A withdrawal due to injury is noted, and no wings noted in authorized awards and decorations despite the MOS assigned.

RECORDS FROM NATIONAL GUARD FILES

BE SURE TO CHECK DD214 - WHICH ARE  N E V E R  CHANGED. A DD215 IS ISSUED.


American Village, Montevallo, AL, on or about Memorial Day, 2007

National Veterans Awards Dinner, Birmingham, AL on or about Veterans Day, 2007

Veterans Day Parade, Birmingham, AL on or about Veterans Day, 2008

NOTE:   There is NO DEVICE worn on the Purple Heart in any of the photos.

 
From: SParatrooper@aol.com
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:01:16 EDT
Subject: apology
To: info@pownetwork.org
 
Dear Chuck & Mary
 
                My name is Roy Spann this is my letter of apology to you and all Veterans regardless of war or conflict they served in. I am a Vietnam Veteran I started RVN training IN 1967 WITH THE 198TH light Inf Brigade at Ft Hood TX and arrived at Bien Hoa Vietnam in early 1968 and left country in 1969. I was wounded on the 12 of January while involved with a convoy from Tay Nin to Saigon. I got a few more scrapes and cuts while there but according to my records the Army only gave me one set of orders for the Purple Heart.
                                                   
                                                              I didn't receive the Purple Heart until I returned to Ft Leonard Wood Army Hospital their a Colonel Miller Commander of the hospital pined the Purple Heart on me with two oak leaf clusters he also told me I had been put in for the Silver & Bronz star and Arcom for actions related,  I got out of the Army a week later and never heard anything else from them. In 1973 I went back into the National Guard for Aviation school I later ask for them to check on this for me, I thought they had because they gave the ribbons not the medals nor did they give me any orders. I well admit this is my fault for not checking myself I take full responsibility for wearing them during the Veterans Day dinner and parade if I have offended any Veterans for this I am truly sorry it has never been my intentions to offend anyone.
 
                                                             After a tour with the Aviation unit I transferred to the 20th Special Forces (ABN ) I went threw  some SF training with the unit but not at FT Bragg I was still caring an Aviation MOS because we were getting our own Aviation Co. and I was training for PSYOP operations I did go to Ft. Benning for jump school but came back because of an illness not an injury the rest of my time with the Army is a case of argument that I wish to leave alone.But there is one matter I need to bring up I am a member of the Military Order Of Purple Heart and I do enjoy working with Veterans, awhile back I started a venture to have a memorial honoring combat wounded Veterans all money came from business and citizens .I kept none for myself all money was turned over to our sectaries. After the memorial was finished we had a dedication ,a flag was raised that came back from Vietnam over a soldier named  Donald Hartman who served with the 101st  Airborn I had met him before I left and had the privilege to escort him back home to his home in Independence, Missouri he paid for freedom with his life, but in reading the story on your web page the writer makes one believe I made up the story because of a misprint by the news paper on his first name, I can assure you the story is true I still have the orders sending me to Oakland Army Base and on to Tonsonut Saigon to pick his body up .In closing I have made some mistakes and once again I apologize but I cant apologize for being a wounded Vietnam Veteran, I have made no political gains or profited from this I am proud of my country and proud to have done my part to protect freedom,  I am no hero and I have never claimed to be one.
 
                                                              Thank you
                                                             Roy Spann    
In reading what this imposter stated, it angers me that some low-life truck driver is stealing the glory of my dead friends! I was in the 20th Special Forces Group from 1981-2003. I am well aware of the policies and procedures of the unit, past and present where I ultimately served as the unofficial unit historian and First Sergeant (1SG).

     Spann's explanation makes no sense and I'll call him an outright liar! He's a typical, never did anything, Walter Mitty-type who has a poor self-esteem and tries to find it elsewhere. No one in the unit even remembers him and certainly never was SF qualified or even airborne qualified! So where did he "MISTAKENLY" think he was authorized to wear those badges? He knows he wasn't qualified and couldn't wear those badges. He certainly didn't wear them around the armory! He would've lost his job as UNIT CLERK! If he wanted to be a hero he could've gone to SF school with me, (I went twice - 2 SF MOSs) but he couldn't even pass airborne school! I did all that crap and activated for three wars and served in two combat zones and I'm certainly no hero! If I was Spann, I'd be very satisfied the earn the Purple Heart legitimately in Viet Nam. To a real patriot like me, that is the highest honor, spilling your blood for your country! He should be proud of that instead of awarding himself a new badge or medal every year. I'm just glad he's been exposed before he got his hands on a Medal of Honor!

      I've always conducted myself as a "quiet professional" and never talked down to anyone of another service or rank but this guy is a lying, clerk/truck driver! His other two Purple Hearts he claims were probably paper cuts  from the mailroom! He is equating himself with one of our REAL HEROES, Steve Osborne, who was a close friend in the unit and killed in action in Iraq. To let this guy get away with this is to slap the face of our dead heroes! His "apology" is evidence enough that he sees he's caught and is trying to muddy the water to escape punishment. He's still lying and will have to continue to lie right up to the time the Feds slap the handcuffs on him.

I want to see this guy punished to the fullest extent of the law!    A felony that will follow him like he wanted his false glory to follow him!

Retired/pissed off SGM

 

TIP OF THE HAT !

ST.CLAIR COUNTY

St. Clair County veterans know the cost of war

By Kellie Long
11-11-2005

ST. CLAIR COUNTY — The cost of war can be high for those who serve. The price they pay is so much more than flesh and bone, it is a measure of heart and soul, battle-worn veterans say.

And on this Veterans Day, just as those in the past, memories rush back to their youth — memories of their own service and of the friends who never made it home.

[clipped]

Hope for today

Springville Police Officer Roy Spann was, in another life, a career Army man. In Vietnam, he received three Purple Hearts, a Meritorious Service award and various other commendations. What he remembers most is how soldiers returning from combat were treated by the public.

"When we came back, it was like slipping into a totally different world. They had briefings to catch us up on what had happened in the world," he said. "They even gave us civilian clothes and told us not to wear our uniforms because we could be killed."

Spann said he didn’t know about the protesters and when he got off the plane at home, there was a line of protesters to greet them.

"They burned a soldier in effigy. They spit on us. I even had family and friends turn on me," he said. "That sat on my mind and heart for a long time."

Spann said he is grateful to see the attitude toward all veterans changing because of issues facing the country today. He still fears what will happen to soldiers coming home when the war in Iraq grows tiresome to the public.

"The guys in Iraq are our brothers, and they are coming home to a much-deserved hero’s welcome," Spann said. "I’m worried though, the longer we stay there the more I see the attitude deteriorating. If they have to stay there another two to three years, and people’s attitude toward the president continues to fail, then our troops may suffer the same way we did."

Two years after first leaving the Army, Spann rejoined the military, became a Green Beret with the 20th Special Forces, and returned to conflict in Central America.

"That wasn’t too popular either," he said. "But I’m still just as patriotic as I was when I first put the uniform on, and I would go to Iraq with my brothers if I could. I guess I’m not just a veteran. I’m a true soldier."

About Kellie L. Long
Kellie Long is Editor of The St. Clair Times.

Springville man honored as Alabama Veteran of the Year

Kellie Long
09-12-2008
  
Roy Spann of Springville was chosen by his peers as the Veteran of the Year for the state of Alabama. He was also chosen as Patriot of the Year for Region IV of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. /Kellie Long/St. Clair Times
Three times in the jungles of Vietnam Roy Spann was wounded in combat. Three times, in exchange for his blood, he received a Purple Heart. And a Silver Star. And a Bronze Star.
Roy Spann is an American hero, even though he denies it.
“Not me,” he said.
Spann joined the U.S. Army in 1966 at the tender age of 18. He went through basic training at Ft. Bragg, NC and then went on to advanced training at Ft. Jackson and Ft. Hood. From there, Spann was loaded on a plane and sent to Vietnam.
“They sent me to the Texas desert to learn jungle warfare,” he chuckles. “Go figure.”
Spann was assigned to the legendary Big Red 1 and mechanized infantry. The first Purple Heart came near Saigon.
“A Ranger group was pinned down and they sent us to help,” Spann said.
Spann still breathes deep and swallows hard when he tells about leaving the protection of an armored carrier and running across the road to help an injured man. For his efforts, shrapnel from mortar rounds pelted Spann’s body. He received a Silver Star and Purple Heart number one.
Spann’s second injury came in January 1969 when an enemy attack was launched against a convoy he and others were escorting near Saigon.
“They hit several of the big fuel trucks,” Spann said. “The lead commander of the convoy was struck by a mortar.”
The commander was catastrophically injured in the strike, but was pulled from harm’s way by Spann.
“He died before we could Medevac him out.”
Once again, Spann was peppered with shrapnel from mortar rounds and he received his second Purple Heart.
A short time later, under the immense canopy of a rubber tree plantation, Spann took the third and most severe of his three injuries — a bayonet under his arm.
“We lost contact with a patrol and we went hunting for them,” he said. “We got into a firefight with the Viet Cong that lasted most of the night.”
Spann said the gunfire lasted until the ammunition ran out and troops resorted to hand to hand combat.
“I took a bayonet under the arm,” he said.. “It hurt, too. I laid there under that black canopy until daylight. That’s how I got the third one. After that, the Army decided it was time for me to go home.”
But Spann didn’t stay at home.
“I stayed out about two years,” he said. “Then I went back into the Army National Guard and then to active duty.”
Spann went into aviation, receiving his aviator’s crew wings before transferring to the 20th Special Forces at Ft. Benning, Ga.
“I was 30 years old and learning to jump out of airplanes,” he said, laughing again.
When a South American conflict between Nicaragua and El Salvador broke out, Spann went.
“I hurt my foot and couldn’t maintain my jump status,” he said. “So I got out. I’m still proud to wear the most coveted piece of headgear in the U.S.. Army — the Green Beret.”
Spann said his wife, Linda, had taken out a $150,000 life insurance policy when he re-upped but they never had to cash it in.
“It’s a good thing too,” he said. “When I got out we found out it wasn’t any good. It wouldn’t have paid if I got killed in the service. Funny.”
The jungle may be left behind but as a Springville police officer, Spann still protects the citizens of this country and the city he calls home.
“I’m not the only one in the Springville department that has military service,” Spann said. “A lot of us have served our country in conflict. Chief (Ron) Black was a member of the Special Forces and a Vietnam veteran, Doug Smith was in Afghanistan, and Tom Alexander was in the first Gulf War.
Doug, the chief and I got to talking one day and realized we’d made a jump together once upon a time and didn’t even know it.”
In recognition of his military service and his service to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Spann was recently named Veteran of the Year for the state of Alabama and Patriot of the Year for Region 4 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
“The patriot award was primarily for work on the Purple Heart memorial built in Springville,” he said.
The memorial to all recipients of the Purple Heart is located in Big Springs Park just off Main Street.
The monument, made of custom red granite, bears the likeness of the Purple Heart award and an inscription from Shakespeare’s Crispin Day speech on the front side and the names of the members of the Springville/Blount Chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart on the reverse.
“People don’t realize the freedom they have,” Spann said. “And that freedom was provided to them through a monumental amount of suffering in the conflicts over the years. They think freedom is a right that they’ll always have. It could be lost if there’s no one there to fight for it.”
Statements from Roy Spann that make me wonder:
 
"I was presented with three Purple Hearts one set of orders and one certificate"
 
I call BS on this.  I have NEVER seen multiple awards on one certificate.  Three certificates, or one certificate stating a third award maybe, but three awards on one certificate? BS.
 
"I have them [the records] and so does the VA Hospital"
 
Well then, let's see them.  Notice the Army doesn't....
 
"While in the 307th I was told the Army had awarded me the Silver & Bronze star for actions in Vietnam"
 
Awarded two of the highest awards the Army has and has NO documentation to back it up? Regardless of who presented him the awards, the Army would have originated them and certainly would have the orders and certificates on file. 
 
"you could be  in a infantry unit and have many MOS"
 
Yes, truck drivers, radio operators, cooks all serve in infantry units, but I'm quite sure personnel with other than an infantry or special forces MOS are not eligible, regardless of the circumstances.  Bottom line: you have to have an infantry MOS to get a CIB. Again, no documentation.
 
"as for the CIB everyone who came into the unit  was presented one I do not know if it was put in my 201 file because I never got to look at it"
 
Again, a high honor that he has no documentation for?
 
http://www.homeofheroes.com/myhero/SGTROY_C_SPANN.html
00_flag.gif (11625 bytes) 00_banner.gif (25819 bytes) Image

SGT.ROY C SPANN
US ARMY VIETNAM & HONDURAS

Photo

medal medal medal medal medal medal medal medal


THIS TRIBUTE IS FOR MY WIFE LINDA,SHE HAS BEEN BY MY SIDE SENCE VIETNAM,SHE HAS KEPT MY WORLD SPINNING,WITHOUT HER THIS OLD SOLDIER WOULD WOULD HAVE BEEN HEARING TAPS ALONG TIME AGO

Tribute rendered by ROY SPANN
The first, Spann-Band_of_Brothers.pdf is from the archives of the St. Clair (County) Times.  Pay particular attention to the third paragraph in which Spann tells all that he received orders to fly back to Saigon to retrieve the body of his friend.  Nevermind that Spann does not even know the real name of his friend.
 
In the second attached document we learn the real name of his "friend."  Scroll down to the bottom of the document and you will find text entered by Spann.  In this text he states that he flew only to Oakland Army base and picked up the body of PFC Hartman there and flew with it to Kansas City, MO.  It sounds like burial detail to me.  Spann did not know this Soldier from Adam.  Also, if you note in his text, Spann states he was in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969.  His record of assignments show he did not leave for RVN until February of 1968.
 

 

http://profile.military.com/member/view.do?memberId=4050808 -  NOW SET TO "PRIVATE".
Subject: More Spann Stuff
07/15/2009
To: "P.O.W. Network - Chuck and Mary Schantag" <info@pownetwork.org>
 
Mary/Chuck,
 
Roy Spann (remember him?) now has a facebook page.  I was visiting it last night when I came across the attached photos.  Roy is no longer making claims of greatness but he is allowing these photos to be posted of him wearing unauthorized awards.  They were apparently placed on his facebook page on 28MAR09, months after his apology was posted to pownetwork.org.  Incidentally, the gentleman in the photo(s) to Spann's left is Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL 6th District).  I'm not sure he is aware of Spann's wannabe/fraud status.  He might like to be informed of this too.
 
Best Regards,