Greg Jordan: It's time to honor Staff Sgt. "Junior" Spurrier with a bridge

Jan. 26—I've heard some extraordinary stories from veterans. I've spoken to a World War II veteran who fought during the Battle of the Bulge and he swore to me that he would recognize a German soldier he bayoneted even today.

A Vietnam veteran told me how he was expecting to get shot at some point, but not on the day he was actually shot.

A machine gunner on a B-17 bomber told me how he was warned not to surrender to members of the Hitler Youth if he got shot down over Europe. Those fanatic boys would probably kill him on sight.

Naturally, I'm a fan of World War II movies such as "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Tora! Tora! Tora!"

A lot of those stories are amazing and sometime unbelievable. Now, there have been times when screenwriters and directors can't resist embellishing or revising history for the sake of more drama.

Sometimes they get it right and they often get it wrong.

One example of getting history not quite right is a brief scene in the 1977 movie "A Bridge Too Far."

It's a big Hollywood blockbuster featuring actors like Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Robert Redford, James Caan, Gene Hackman, Lawrence Oliver and Anthony Hopkins.

It tells the story of Operation Market Garden, a daring attempt to seize bridges in Holland and use them for a strike into Germany.

The hope was to end the war in Europe by Christmas.

One of these bridges, a vital one in the Dutch city of Arnhem, was partially seized by British paratroopers under Lt. Col. John Frost.

In the movie, Frost was played by Anthony Hopkins. Many of today's audiences will recognize him as Dr. Hannibal Lecter from the movie "Silence of the Lambs."

The real John Frost, by then a general, was an advisor for the movie.

In one scene, Hopkins runs across a street whilst the Germans are shooting at him. Naturally, he runs while crouched down low.

Frost told Hopkins that he was running too fast. In reality, British officers were supposed to show both their men and the enemy a contempt for danger. General Frost said he would have been expected to calmly walk across that street. Unfortunately for historic accuracy, the scriptwriters didn't think the audience would believe it.

I think the heroism of Staff Sgt. James Ira "Junior" Spurrier would have the same problem if the actions that earned him the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest award for gallantry in battle, ever reached the big screen.

On Nov. 13, 1944, Spurrier single-handedly attacked the Town of Achain in France.

During the battle, he started using German weapons when his ammunition ran out, and went on to kill one enemy officer and 24 enlisted men, and then capture two more officers and two infantry men.

This one-man assault sounds like something dreamed up for a movie, but it really happened.

I'm sure it would be an inspiring sequence in any World War II film, but today's scriptwriters might worry about being accused of embellishing Spurrier's achievements.

He went on to receive the Medal of Honor, and today there's a painting of him being congratulated by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Allied supreme commander in Europe. Both the painting and Spurrier's medal are currently on display at the Those Who Served War Museum in Princeton.

On Jan. 10, the Mercer County Commission passed a resolution honoring Spurrier. It's a step toward getting a highway bridge named after him.

Now the Legislature needs to pass a bill to make this happen.

Spurrier was honored with a huge parade in Bluefield when he returned from the war, but he was forgotten as the years passed.

His heroism is being recognized again, so now is the time to honor his memory by naming a local bridge after him.

He did what many would consider impossible today, so now it's time to remember him by doing something that's perfectly possible.

Greg Jordan is the Daily Telegraph's senior reporter. Contact him at gjordan@bdtonline.com

Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com