Michael R. Speer Scholarship lunch March 9 at WBE
The communities of Uniontown and Redfield will honor one of their own fallen soldiers during a special event planned next month.
The Uniontown FFA Chapter is sponsoring a memorial scholarship benefit lunch and auction to honor the late U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Michael R. Speer from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, March 9 at the West Bourbon Elementary School cafeteria and gymnasium, 602 Fifth St., Uniontown.
Volunteers in both communities also help to organize and conduct the event each year, which has become an annual tradition since Speer was killed four years ago while serving his country, Uniontown FFA advisor Kevin Gleason said.
Speer, a 1997 graduate of Uniontown High School, was killed in a April 9, 2004, battle in the Iraqi city of Lutafiyah during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The 24-year-old Redfield native was honored that year during a memorial service at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and also posthumously received a U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal honoring him for his bravery and distinguished service during the battle.
Speer was an FFA member during his time at UHS, Gleason said.
"He was a nice kid, kind of private and quiet," he said. "He was I guess what you would call a blue collar type, a good worker. He cared about his friends and his family."
The March 9 event will begin with a barbecue lunch featuring barbecued pork, home-style baked beans, potato salad, bread, dessert, and a beverage of choice. Any free will donations for the barbecue will be gladly accepted, Gleason said.
"We're just going to have a good time, celebrate Mike's life, and hopefully raise money for kids to get an education," he said.
After the lunch, military honors will be presented, followed by a benefit auction of items donated from area businesses. A work auction, in which several Uniontown FFA members and school employees will sell their volunteer services in the community, will also take place.
A group of between 20 and 30 FFA members and school employees have planned to make themselves available for a six-hour day of work, Gleason said.
"People will have a lot of spring cleaning activities coming up, or wherever they need an extra set of hands, they'll be there," he said.
All proceeds from the event will help create a permanent scholarship fund in Speer's memory, a fund currently in an interest-bearing account that event organizers have been building on the last few years, Gleason said.
"They've been asking for help in raising money, because they want to get to the point where they only use the interest (for scholarships)," he said. "But they're not there yet."
Prior to his death, Speer was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, 2nd Marine Division of II Marine Expeditionary force based at Camp Lejeune. He served as a first squad leader when his platoon was assigned to support another unit engaged in combat with enemy forces. Speer ordered his troops to provide cover fire for the unit and exposed himself to hostile fire at several times during that engagement. Speer was killed by enemy fire while seeking a new position for his squad.
His parents, Redfield residents John and Pam Speer, received their son's commendation medal following the Jan. 19, 2005, memorial service that honored Speer and about 50 other fallen soldiers in the 2nd Marine Division.
In 2003 and 2004, Speer, who joined the Marine Corps in 2001, was one of three area soldiers who were killed in duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. Army Spc. David "Butch" Hall, another UHS graduate, was killed in Afghanistan in 2004. U.S. Army Spc. Joseph Lister, of Pleasanton, was killed in November 2003 in Iraq.
Speer was posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant, a February 2005 Associated Press story said.
Monetary donations to the Sgt. Michael Speer Memorial Scholarship Fund can be mailed directly to Union State Bank, P.O. Box 100, Uniontown, KS, 66779. For more information, contact Gleason at (620) 756-4389, or visit www.jansl@jansl.com/MichaelSpeer on the Internet.