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November 11, 2009 Veteran’s Day
Story
Today is Veteran’s Day, 2009. Each year I try to find a
veteran and share a piece of history with those readers that follow my
writings. This year I had to look no further than two doors down the
street where I live. This is a brief story about my neighbor, Lt.
Commander Irene M. Young, USN (ret). --- Click for Rest of
Story ---
November 11, 2009 Fort Hood Story
It is a few days since
the tragedy at Ft. Hood, Texas took place. There are no words that will comfort those
grieving. There are only prayers we
can offer to those who have suffered loss of a loved one and for those
wounded struggling for recovery. My son is stationed at Ft. Hood, when stateside. ---Click
Rest of Story ---
Jim Spiri-International
freelance and independent photo-journalist/historian.
Jim Spiri, 54, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is currently at
home in Albuquerque, New Mexico preparing for a
return trip back to the war zone in Iraq. He has been
traveling in and out of theatre there, in a variety of capacities, since
January of 2004. Most recently, he completed a six month embed from May 2009
to October 2007 with the USMC and the US Army. He covered extensively events
in Fallujah, Mosul, Taji and the southeast part of Baghdad, as well as other
areas of Iraq. His work was
published on a daily basis in blog form with the
Philadelphia Inquirer Newspaper at the on line version at: http://blogs.phillynews.com/philly/spiri/ which still can be
accessed by clicking on the address listed above.
Spiri, who has quite a history of
international travel, is a unique individual who has managed to press forward
in the midst of personal tragedy, adversity and a sincere desire to support
the troops in such a fashion that has gained him much respect among the
military community. Known as a true patriot, Spiri,
who was also instrumental in the passing of a bill in Congress addressing
military medical health care coverage for newly commissioned officers, has
the tenacity of a bulldog when the record needs to be straight.
Married at age 18, to his wife Candi (who
was 17 at the time) has been married for the past 34 years. The two were
blessed with four children, Melain, Jesse, Jimmy
and Moriah, two boys and two girls, and raised them
in a variety of locations around the globe. Both sons attended New Mexico
Military Institute for their first two years of college and then proceeded to
pursue careers in the military. The girls went on to attain careers where the
oldest one, Melain, became a school teacher and the
youngest one, Moriah became a nurse. The Spiri’s now have been blessed with six
grandchildren. Life has been good, but in 2001 tragedy struck and changed
their lives forever, but through the suffering the family found a way to turn
tragedy into triumph in true American fashion, with a firm testing of their
faith in the Lord Jesus. It is with this faith that the Spiri
Family continues to press on.
Photo:
Jim Spiri Sr, Jimmy Spiri Jr, James Spiri III, Jesse Spiri
And
Jacob Spiri.
In May of 2001, their oldest son, Jesse, was commissioned a 2nd
Lt. in the USMC, after completing a four year degree at Western New Mexico University, in Silver City, NM. Shortly thereafter,
Jesse was stricken with what was determined to be brain cancer and
subsequently passed away on July 7, 2001. At the onset of
the illness, Jesse was admitted to UNM hospital under Tri-Care, the health
care coverage for all military personnel. Shortly after emergency brain
surgery, Tri-Care balked and decided not to cover the newly commissioned 2nd
Lt. Within 48 hours of brain surgery,
Jesse was discharged from the hospital and left to fend for himself for
medical care. He had no insurance and the family rushed to find a way to get
him treatment. Tri-Care determined that a “gray area” as far as
coverage was concerned caused a hesitation in treatment. The Spiri family went public with the dilemma, but to no
avail. Jesse died on July 7, a mere 56 days after being discharged. Life
would never be the same for the Spiri family.
Jim Spiri took this tragedy hard, but
pressed his Senator, Pete Domenici (R-NM), until eventually in November of
2003, a bill in Congress was passed called, “The 2nd Lt.,
Jesse James Spiri, Military Medical Coverage Act of
2004”, which closed the so-called loophole that Tri-Care balked on,
thus relieving any future family the pain and suffering that the Spiri family experienced. Following the final words of
his son Jesse, which were, “Lord Jesus, make me an Overcomer”,
Jim Spiri decided to pursue a life in full support
of all American troops from that point on. This is what has driven Jim Spiri to “Support the Troops” in earnest, in
what we now call, “The War in Iraq”.
It was while being present at the United States Senate, as an
invited guest during the passing of the bill in Congress, that Jim Spiri decided that from that point on, his life would
never be the same and the experience of one man following his patriotic duty,
can and did make a difference. At that point in time, Spiri
determined to find a way to continue on a positive footing to support in
whatever capacity he could, the troops who were now engaged in a global war
on terrorism. In January of 2004, Spiri obtained
employment at Camp Anaconda, near Balad, Iraq, as a flight line
passenger representative, putting to use his skills in ground aviation to
work in full support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During that time, he was
present and assisted in the loading of over 12,000 wounded soldiers and
voluntarily offered his services as a photo-historian and produced a
photographic historical archive for the 31st combat Support Hospital which handled the
majority of wounded US soldiers in Iraq. It was at this
time Spiri found much grace to lend healing to his
own suffering.
By the summer of 2005, Spiri’s wife,
Candi, joined him and worked in helicopter
manifesting as a US Army contractor. Together, the two continued their work
in supporting the troops until March of 2006, at which time they returned to
their home in New Mexico. During their time
in country, the Spiri’s were invited guests
of honor to Baghdad in November of 2005
for the November 10th birthday celebration of the USMC. At
that time, Jim Spiri began to inquire with the USMC
about becoming an embedded photographer. It would be a process that would
take much time. After returning home to New Mexico in March of 2006,
the Spiri’s made a plan that would coordinate
their next journey to coincide with the deployment of their younger son,
Jimmy, who is a CH47 helicopter pilot in the US Army. Their younger son would
deploy once again (his fourth time) in September of 2006. Jim and Candi Spiri obtained employment
in Kuwait in September of
2006 at Al-Mubarak Air Base, as US Air Force
contractors, where Candi worked in
passenger’s services and Jim worked in cargo. Together, they would be
able to be in theatre at the same time their own son was deployed. Once again
in November of 2006, the Spiri’s were invited
by the USMC as honored guests for the birthday on the 10th, and it
was at this time that Jim made a strong move to embed with the USMC in Anbar province. This time, it would come to pass.
In years past, Jim and Candi Spiri both were freelance photographers and covered the
war in the late 1980’s in El Salvador. By 1992, a book
was produced in both English and Spanish, by Jim and Candi
Spiri, titled, “In the Beginning…El Salvador”. It was a
black and white photo-documentary depicting life in the war zone of El
Salvador during the years 1987-89. It received many positive reviews and is
still available upon request.
SPRING 2007
By the spring of 2007, Jim took permanent leave of absence and
embarked on a six month embed with the USMC in Anbar
province and Nineveh province in Iraq. The journey was
done for free and without any outside financial support. The Philadelphia
Inquirer Newspaper caught wind of his journey and produced a front page
article on his adventures. It was shortly thereafter that a blog was begun and has since gained an immense following.
During the journey, Spiri was able to fulfill a
life-long desire to accompany his son on combat missions. Father and son
working together in the war zone while at the same time supporting the rest
of America’s sons and
daughters who were also in the war zone. The blog
became a way of linking the troops to the families on the home front and
detailing day to day combat operations in a fashion that followed in the
footsteps of famed historians of wars past, Matthew Brady, Ernie Pyle and Joe
Galloway. Jim Spiri had found a way to support the
troops and convey to America the professionalism
of America’s sons and
daughters in harm’s way.
Spiri with Lt. Gen Ray Odierno in Mosul, Iraq, 2007.
OCTOBER 2007
By October of 2007, the journey for the Spiri’s
had come to a close and both returned home to New Mexico. In recent weeks Spiri has attended homecoming celebrations for soldiers
from Fort Bliss, TX and documented in
full circle the end of a long deployment of fellow comrades who have become
as family. One mission is now complete.
In 2008, Jim volunteered and was invited to be Senator John
McCain’s personal photographer during the Presidential primaries and
subsequent campaign in South Carolina and New Mexico.
Jim Spiri with Senator John McCain in New
Mexico, 2008.
Now, Jim Spiri is planning a follow-up
journey. His intention is to seek support from the heartbeat of America who wants to become
a part of the next journey. The war continues with much positive progress
going unreported at this time. Spiri is able to
convey in a unique fashion that strengthens not only the individual soldier
and marine, but at the same time strengthen the home front and open a way to
allow those at home to support where before a way was not available.
Spiri has made a way for contributors to
receive something from the past, in order to continue to report the current.
For contributions of $20, each person will receive an autographed copy of Spiri’s first book, “In the Beginning…El Salvador”. For
contributions of $40, each person will receive a copy of the book plus a CD
of recent photos from Iraq depicting day to
day operations among USMC or US Army Patrols.
The Captains Journal, a highly respected military blog, is proud to feature Jim Spiri
as one of its guest bloggers. For more information
you can contact Jim Spiri at: jimspiri@yahoo.com or call him
personally at any time at: 505.898.1680. He welcomes all contact and
personally responds to each and every inquiry.
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