James C Spencer

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Vocation

American Democratic politician who was a survivor of the Bataan Death March during World War II. At the age of twenty-four, he entered the Texas House of Representatives, serving two nonconsecutive terms from 1939–1941 and 1947–1949. Spencer also served a term as the Henderson county judge. Between his state legislative terms, Spencer was a United States Army medic, who attained the rank of sergeant. He was held as a prisoner of war for three years in the Philippine Islands, after having survived the notorious Bataan Death March. The march involved the forced transfer to prison camps of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners who had been captured by the Japanese in April 1942 at the Bataan Peninsula. The emaciated prisoners were compelled to march sixty miles in tropical heat without food and medication. Only 54,000 survived the nearly week-long march, characterized by extreme physical abuse inflicted on the men by their captors. For his meritorious service, Spencer was awarded the Bronze Star. He died on Christmas Day 2009 in Lubbock, Texas. Link to Wikipedia biography