Staff Sgt. Ronald Jay Spino
Born: March 1, 1964
Died: December 29, 2009 in Bala Morghab, Afghanistan
Staff Sgt Ronald J Spino of Fayetteville, North Carolina, grew up in Waterbury, Connecticut where he attended Holy Cross High School. He then attended Teikyo Post University, now known as Post University and worked in the records room of Waterbury Hospital. At the age of 29, he enlisted in the Army, starting his military career as a soldier medic and then became a military nurse and paratrooper. He was most recently in charge of the intensive care unit and forward surgical unit, which meant he jumped out of military planes, landed on the front lines and would treat wounded soldiers. He was currently serving his third tour during the war and was due to come home in 20 days, where he was expected to be released from the military. Each tour was initially to Iraq, but on this last tour his company was split, and Robert was sent to Afghanistan to an international base. Ronald was killed at age 45 when he and two soldiers came under fire from an Afghan insurgent at the gate of a military base. He is survived by his wife, Betty, who also serves in the Army, a daughter, Kandice, his parents, Rita and James Spino, two brothers, Glen and James Jr., and a sister, Maryanne. His Awards and Decorations include, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Iraqi Campaign Medal. He also has the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals, Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon and a Parachutist Badge.
Army
274th Forward Surgical Team
44th Medical Command
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Burial is at Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery in Spring Lake, North Carolina – Sec 8A Site 732
The Staff Sgt. Ronald Jay Spino by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
