FULL HONORS TO SERGEANT
Several Generals to be Pallbearers
Joseph Spel Was Hero
WASHINGTON, December 30, 1928 – Full military honors will be accorded Staff Sergeant Joseph Spel, USA, when his funeral is held in Arlington National Cemetery at 2 P. M. tomorrow.
He was in the recruiting service of the Syracuse, New York, District and died at the hospital at Fort Totten, New York, near New York City, on Christmas Eve.
During the World War he served with the First Division in Company L, Eighteenth Infantry and participated in seven battles. He was wounded three timed and was awarded the Croix de Guerre by France.
The cortege will assemble at the mausoleum and the honorary pallbearers, members of the First Division in France during the World War, will be Major General Charles P. Summerall, Chief of Staff of the Army, former Commander of the division; Major General D. Frank Cheatham, Quartermaster General, formerly Quartermaster of the Division; Brigadier General Campbell King, Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel, Former Chief of Staff for the division; Brigadier General Frank Parker, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations and Training, former Commander of the division; Colonel Hjalmar Ericksen, retired, former Commander of the First Brigade, and Major H. R. Patch, former Lieutenant Colonel of the Eighteenth Infantry.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard