Carefree celebrates Memorial Day, remembers the fallen

By Maya McFall
Mail

The town of Carefree hosted a Memorial Day tribute May 25, at Cave Creek Memorial Cemetery, 36400 N. Pima Road.

The program featured several speakers, including Capt. Eric Spencer, who served in the Army over a 12-month deployment during Operation Iraqi Freedom as an infantry officer, and Molly Zehnder, Arizona state corresponding secretary of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Cactus Shadows high school student Olivia Nicosia performed the "Star Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America." Cave Creek Boy Scout Troop #603 opened the tribute with a presentation of colors.

“We gather, not just for solemn remembrance, we gather to honor the men and women and families of the U.S Armed Forces who gave their lives in service to our country. Their sacrifice is the reason we stand here today in freedom,” said Carefree mayor John Crane.

The opening prayer was led by the Rev. Jim Noble, senior pastor from Desert Hills Presbyterian Church.

Zehnder was the first speaker, who served as a guardian on the first all-woman honor flight April 7-9 to Washington, D.C., where they honored 32 female Vietnam war-era veterans from Arizona.

“An honor flight is not just a trip,” said Zehnder. “It’s a promise fulfilled. It tells our veterans we have not forgotten you. It tells families your sacrifice mattered, and it tells future generations, the stories of our veterans must continue to be told.”

The honored veterans held a variety of positions during their service, including nurses, counselors, a military intelligence officer, a helicopter mechanic, a canine handler and a recruiter.

“One of the female veterans was asked by a reporter how the honor flight recognized her service. She said that she was really never recognized or celebrated for her service. This was the first time she felt appreciation for what she did during the Vietnam War. She was not alone,” she said.

She invited the audience to help more veterans travel on the honor flight by registering an Arizona veteran, volunteering or donating at honorflight.org.

The keynote speaker of the event was Spencer, who recalled the time he served on a 12-month deployment during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006, where he served as an infantry officer with the U.S Army and led 250 combat missions and patrols in southeast Baghdad.

“Today, I’ve decided to tell a very personal story from my own experience in combat,” Spencer said. “A story that was punctuated by loss that feels quite painful to relive on Memorial Day, but I’ve chosen to tell the story publicly so that, in the end, hopefully, it will serve as a story of inspiration.”

The year he served, he said, 823 mostly soldiers and marines were killed in action.

“This is the second deadliest year of combat in the last 54 years,” he said.

He was a de facto company commander at a Forward Operating Base, FOB Hope, in Sider City. The mission was to hold FOB Hope until it could be handed over to the Iraqi army.

To accomplish that, in addition to his own platoon, he said, he was given about 100 soldiers drawn from all different parts of their battalion. He got to know many of them, since they worked guard duty 24 hours a day and slept together in barracks.

“After the first six weeks, a core group of about one to two dozen of these soldiers stayed behind at FOB Hope to become what’s called a MiTT team, which is basically military advisor team to the Iraqi Army, while I redeployed back to Southeast Baghdad for the remainder of the year.”

On the morning of Feb. 18, 2006, Spencer was on QRF duty, which is the quick reaction force, at Ford Operating Base Rusta Maya in Southeast Baghda, ready to respond to emergencies.

That day, they were activated. The MiTT team had left Fob Hope in a convoy, and they were hit by an Improvised Explosive Device, resulting in casualties.

 Spencer’s four Bradley vehicles were sent to escort the battalion commander and his security detail to the blast site, along with the battalion chaplain, he said.

“This was our battalion’s first casualty of the war. As we raced to the blast site, the MiTT team was radioing back to the tackle operation center,” he said.

They never said names over the radio—only battle roster numbers, which is the first, middle, and last initial, and the last four digits of their social security numbers, he said.

“And I heard on the radio, Charlie Echo Mike, K.I.A,” he said. “I pieced together it was Charles E. Matheny, Sergeant Charlie Matheny. A really good-hearted soldier that I had befriended, who was a mechanic.”

Spencer and his team watched as the chaplain administered his last rites over Sergeant Matheny’s body.

After soldiers were redeployed back home in December of 2006, there were 16 post deployment veteran suicides in the last 20 years, he said.

“So, the war that we served in, arguably, continues,” he said.

In 2013, Spencer decided to get in touch with Matheny’s mother through Facebook. He messaged her, introduced himself, and planned a trip to Washington to visit her.

He felt as if he owed her answers to her son’s death.

“I needed to look his mom in the eye and at least offer to answer those questions,” he said. “That would somehow bring closure to her—or perhaps closure to me.”

When he visited Matheny’s mother, DeeDee, she gave him a glass framed picture of her son, and a program of his funeral, and handed it to him.

“And she said one of the most profound statements I’ve ever heard in my life,” he said. “‘Eric, if Jesus were to come here today, and offer to bring Charlie back to me, I would not accept him. I know Charlie’s in heaven and in a better place, and I am at peace.’”

Spencer is still in awe at her poise and grace 13 years later.

Today, he feels a sense of responsibility to gold star families who have lost a loved one in combat.

“When I think about the soldiers killed in action, I have long felt some personal responsibility to the Gold Star families,” he said. “Mostly, this is survivor guilt, questioning why I’m here, and their loved ones aren’t.”

He encouraged veterans to live their lives to the fullest.

“If you’ve worn the uniform, you should strive to make the Gold Star families of this country proud of the life that you’ve led.”

To the Gold Star families, he understands their loss and heartache.

“For the families of all those soldiers, I suspect that every day feels like Memorial Day. Perhaps the feelings today, on the official holiday, are more acute in some way,” he said. “I can never truly know, but I suspect there’s a range of emotions for Gold Star families, from pride in their loved ones’ service to an enduring grief that never truly subsides. Or I fear some might even harbor anger or resentment in some cases.”

He emphasized that every day should be lived with gratitude.

“Regardless if you have served in the military, you honor the sacrifices of those who did by living a life of purpose and honor," he said.

Closing the tribute, Crane emphasized the privileges that have been fought for, and the sacrifices made for them.

“We enjoy open debate, safe communities, the right to vote, the freedom to worship, the ability to pursue our dreams, because others were willing to give everything to defend those liberties. And so today, we remember them,” said Crane.