Army, Specialist Based: Ft. Hood, Texas
1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom
Died: April 2, 2007
San Diego, USA
Married, 1 child
Gender: Male
Hometown: Chula Vista
Burial: Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego
Even after an attack on his Humvee left him paralyzed, Army Spc. Curtis R. Spivey never regretted serving in Iraq.
"I enjoyed deploying. I enjoyed serving my country," he said last month while undergoing daily therapy in the spinal-cord injury unit at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in La Jolla.
Like many injured veterans, Spivey, 25, had gone through a period of anger and depression. But he had seemingly worked through those issues and was upbeat. He talked of going back to college, maybe getting a degree in some area of criminal justice.
"I'm definitely not going to sit ... at home," he said.
But his plans were not to be. While he was an inpatient at the VA hospital, a blood vessel in Spivey's brain ruptured and doctors were unable to stop the internal bleeding.
He died April 2, just short of seven months after a bomb exploded beneath his Humvee south of Baghdad.
Spivey was buried ... at Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery on San Diego's Point Loma. Family, friends and members of Spivey's platoon attended.
He is survived by his wife, Aida; their 2-year-old daughter, Marianna; his father, Joseph L. Spivey Sr.; his mother, Tania L. Spivey; his stepmother, Bernadine D. Spivey; three sisters, Vicki DeLagrave, Marissa Macedo and Rebecca Macedo; and his brother, Michael. A second brother, Joey, died last year. Spivey's wife and daughter live in San Diego; Marissa Macedo lives in Portland, Ore.; and the rest of the family lives in Chula Vista.
In his interview, Spivey talked of his love for his daughter and how he was determined that his injuries not keep him from being "absolutely the best father I can be," both as a provider and a source of emotional support.
"I've got a lot to live for," he said.
Read the entire LA Times article about Army Specialist Curtis R. Spivey here, find more at Military Times and visit Specialist Spivey's Guest Book.
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