The Honorable Spence Dry

Ethan, this is a sad story about a very close friend of mine. Spence and I were classmates at the Naval Academy and spent our four years there together. His full name was Melvin Spence Dry... he really hated the name Melvin so we - as guys do - teased him by calling him Melvin some of the time. Spence was a really great fellow. He made good grades, was our Midshipman Company Commander (a "three stripper") and was well liked by everybody.
This is a picture of us during our junior year (2nd Class) summer. We spent a month at Little Creek, Virginia learning about the Marine Corps (Little Creek is not far from where you, your Mommy and Daddy live). In this picture we had just made an amphibious landing (in very rough seas). That means we had scaled down rope netting hung from the side of a troop transport ship and jumped into small boats that had a drop-down front. These "landing craft" took us onto the beach where the front flopped down and we ran out like we were attacking the enemy who was in control of the beach. In this picture we were dressed in fatigues, helmets and had rifles (M-1s). We were wet and cold so don't be fooled by the smiles. We were miserable. I am kneeling in the center of the picture and Spence is standing over my left shoulder.
When we graduated, we both went to destroyers (I've told you about the U.S.S. Nicholas in an earlier post). Spence and I were both deployed to Vietnam in June of 1969 and we ran into each other in Subic Bay in the Philippines. One afternoon we were jogging around the naval base talking about what options we had to finish out our four more year commitment (minimum) in the Navy. We started to talk about becoming Navy SEALs and Spence said, "yeah, that would be more fun than being on a ship... I think I'll apply to be on the teams!"
Well, he did just that and was the last Navy SEAL killed in Vietnam (June 5, 1972). He broke his neck jumping out of a helicopter at night... the chopper was flying too fast and the pilot told Spence they were at the proper altitude for him to safely jump into the water. It was pitch black dark and Spence couldn't tell how high they were so he exited the aircraft. His death was a tragic loss especially since our involvement in that war was questionable at best.
Spence was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for his actions. This is a poster about him:

Here is a short video about Navy SEALs... they are fierce warriors:

I love you, little man,
Granddaddy
PS. Give me a call sometime 931-598-9160.