Veterans Day: 'An Opportunity to Talk About How Great Our Country Is'

Former Alexandria servicemen and women as well as friends, fellow soldiers and family of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Rocky Versace came to Mount Vernon Recreation Center Monday afternoon for a ceremony honoring Veterans Day.

Retired Brig. Gen. John W. Nicholson shared stories of Versace, an Army captain who lived for a time on Forest Street in Del Ray that was held prisoner in a Viet Cong war camp for 23 months before his execution in September 1965.

“I do this out of gratitude for Steve, Rocky’s brother and all his classmates,” said Nicholson, who was appointed secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission by President George W. Bush in 2005. “It’s an opportunity to talk about how great our country is.”

While captured, Versace never cooperated with the Viet Cong. He ignored three bullet wounds in his left leg and adhered to the Military Code of Conduct, serving as an inspiration for others in the camp despite being held apart in a small bamboo cage.

Nicholson, who attended West Point with Versace and was part of several missions aimed at his rescue, spoke of the gruesome truths of the Vietnam War and the torture and suffering Versace went through in the camp. He also spoke of Versace’s brave defiance and the example he sets for others.

A fellow POW nominated Versace for the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1970, but it was not awarded until 2002.

It was also in 2002 that the Friends of Rocky Versace erected a $250,000 plaza in his honor in front of Mount Vernon Recreation Center, just a few steps from where he used to live.

Monday’s ceremony also included the reading of the names of the 66 other Alexandrians killed or missing in Vietnam. Veterans and family members took turns reading the names.

Jim Spengler, the director of Alexandria’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities, read his brother Henry’s name.

Capt. Henry Spengler, a 1964 graduate of Alexandria’s Francis Hammond High School and 1968 West Point grad, was killed-in-action in 1972 after the helicopter he was piloting was shot down over Vietnam. His body was not recovered and identified until 1989.

Jim Spengler was working in the D.C. in the early 70s when he recalled an Army chaplain informing his mother and sister-in-law of Henry’s passing.

“Some 20 years later, my nephew called me from out in California to tell me they had recovered his body,” Spengler said.

Henry Spengler was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in 1989.

“Every ceremony like this you appreciate those that served and especially those who are currently serving,” Jim Spengler said. “They do it willingly. … It’s quite a network once you serve and it never goes away.”