Hometown Hero: After More than 40 Years, Royal Oak Man Receives Purple Heart

Wounded in 1969 in the Republic of Vietnam, Arnold Spencer receives a long overdue military decoration at the VFW Hall in Royal Oak.

Royal Oak resident Arnold Spencer was a teenager when he served in the Army during the Vietnam War and for years he didn't care to talk about it very much, according to his wife Madeline. That hesitancy had to somewhat change today, when the reserved Spencer, now 62, was awarded the Purple Heart. Sen. Carl Levin presented the medal to Spencer, a 40-year resident of Royal Oak at the VFW hall in Royal Oak on the Fourth of July in a small presentation attended by about a dozen people, including Spencer's wife Madeline, son Jeffrey, of Oak Park, daughter-in-law Holli and granddaughter Rian, both of Plymouth. Spencer's son Erik was unable to attend. After Levin pinned the medal on the soft-spoken former soldier's chest, Spencer gave brief …

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