A gift from the past

Alicia Rimel / News Virginian
Published: March 16, 2008

Just a month after he arrived in France, Private Cecil R. Spittler lost his life during battle.

"We never did get a straight answer on exactly how he was killed," said Spitler.

The youngest of three boys, Raymond knew the least about his father - Raymond has two older brothers, Robert Cecil Spitler Jr. and Curtis Lester Spitler.

So, Raymond dug deeper. His research, and years of persistence, culminated with the delivery of a very important package on Thursday.

After 63 years, the family has recovered a collection of military medals - medals awarded, posthumously, to Private Spittler for his valor, service and sacrifice during the Second World War.

Cecil R. Spitler was born in Staunton on Jan. 30, 1907. Raising his family in Hot Springs, he was exempt throughout the initial World War II conflict. However, as the war escalated, even family men were being called upon to serve.

Upon joining the military, Cecil's last name was listed incorrectly. His last name is "Spittler" in official records.

"We have to leave it. That's the way it is in the records," Raymond Spitler said. "We wanted them to change it, but they said that's how it is in the records, so that's how it has to stay."

Private Spittler was deployed to France as one of some 900 soldiers sent as replacements after over 1,000 men were lost in a previous battle. At the last minute, however, he was assigned to a different unit than originally planned, due to a high number of casualities.

On the journey, during Christmas of 1944, Spittler wrote what was to be his last letter to his family. A month later, on Jan. 29, 1945, Private Spittler was killed during the liberation of the French city of Colmar - he was 37 years old.

After his death, a Purple Heart was sent to his wife and sons. This medal, now reverently arranged amid keepsakes in the Spitler's home, has been in the family's possession since 1945.

Until just a few years ago, the family had no reason to question the honors Private Spittler was awarded.

At least not until Raymond Spitler began to research his family tree. As he learned about his father's past, Spitler realized that there was a discrepancy in the name of his father's unit - it did not agree with the original message the family had received from the Army.

The urge to clarify this detail in his father's history became a personal mission for Raymond.

"I kept trying to locate [the correct unit name] so that I could learn something more about him," he said.

Upon speaking with the National Archives facility, in St. Louis, Mo., Spitler encountered several obstacles. He was warned that some of their records were lost in a fire. His father's last minute reassignment and short service time would also confuse things. The officials assured Spitler that they would look for the pertinent information and piece it together in an effort to find the actual name of his father's unit.

A few years later, it was official.

Private Spittler was a member of the U.S. Army 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division - the same designation etched onto his gravestone, located in the Epinal American Cemetery in Epinal (Vosges) France, where he is buried with 5,255 other U.S. soldiers who gave their lives during campaigns across northeastern France and into Germany.

With this new information came another revelation. It seemed that Raymond Spitler's father was due several medals of honor from the U.S. Army. However, more waiting was in order while the oversight was forwarded through the proper chains of command.

"We just assumed over the years that the Purple Heart was all he would get until I tracked [the unit name] down and found out that he was in these other battles," Spitler said.

Two years passed while Raymond Spitler sent periodic letters to make sure the information had indeed been forwarded along. A year ago, he was told that it would be one more year before the military could verify that the medals were due to Private Spittler.

Raymond Spitler was on the verge of giving up. Until a large manila folder arrived Thursday afternoon - containing his father's medals of honor from the U.S. Army.

Among the posthumously-awarded medals was a Bronze Star, given for meritorious achievement in active ground combat; a World War II Honorable Service lapel button, for service in the conflict; a World War II Victory Medal, awarded for having served in the war; a Combat Infantry Badge, bestowed for satisfactory performance of duty while under hostile fire and for serving in the infantry; as well as the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, with one bronze star, presented to servicemen for serving within the European-African-Middle Eastern theater between Dec. 7, 1941, and November 8, 1945.

The French Croix de Guerre will be awarded for serving in the liberation of Colmar, the battle in which Private Spittler lost his life. This is the only medal not yet in the Spitler family's possession. The French government will bestow this honor soon.

Spitler is very pleased to have finally recovered these pieces of his father's history.

"It took me by surprise when they showed up," Spitler said. "I got nervous, couldn't hardly open them up. I was shaking. I did the same thing when I went to his grave in France - I didn't think it would bother me, but when I got there, it really did. I just didn't think it would happen that way because I never really knew him, but after so many years, it gets to you, the emotions."

Married for 50 years, his wife Beth, was by his side during the entire search.

"It just makes me feel good that finally the family has the medals he deserved," she said. "He gave his life for his country. It just shows that if you keep looking for these kinds of things, eventually something will happen."

Raymond is not done yet. He wants to know more about the day-to-day life of his father's unit, as well as the nature of the battles in which his father fought. He hopes to gain this information by accessing daily military records.

"I'll keep searching for as long as I can to find something new. You get to digging into stuff and you find out answers to questions that you didn't know. I think that's part of the search - finding out about your family and the things you didn't know about them," Spitler said.

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