Pvt. Clarence T. Spencer

Clarence T. Spencer was a member of the color guard and the drill team when few other athletes at high school bothered with JROTC at all. "He was always the first to raise his hand when there was something hard to do," said retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Don Harris. "He had the grades and the mind to do anything in the service, but of course he chose the combat arms. He was a stud." Spencer, 24, of Fort Worth, Texas, died Feb. 4 in Balad of wounds suffered from small-arms fire in Baqubah. He was a 2001 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Hood. He served in the Marines for four years and completed three tours in Iraq. He earned a Purple Heart when he was wounded in action on Sept. 17, 2003. His mother said he went through boot camp like "it was a breeze," and his drill instructor joked with her that it was difficult to find anything to wipe the little half-smile off his face. "He had a huge heart," said Bob Jones, his former football coach. "He was a kid who brightened up the room when he walked in." Spencer is survived by his wife, Shanta, and 5-year-old daughter, Chania.