Sergeant First Class Donald “Don” Lee Sparks

Early Life

Donald Lee Sparks was born on November 7, 1946, to Calvin and Arloha Sparks. Donald was the second of four children. The family made their home on a farm seven miles southwest of the small town of Glidden, Iowa, population 1,150. The Sparks’s family farm grew a variety of crops and raised livestock. There were chickens, milk cows, bucket calves, hogs, feeder cattle, and even rabbits. The row crops consisted of soybeans, corn, oats, and alfalfa. 

The four Sparks children, Ron, Don, Russell, and Esta, all had responsibilities on the farm that fit their age and maturity. The youngest children would help Arloha in the big red barn, with milk cows, bucket calf chores and feeding chickens. The older brothers would do cattle and hog barn chores. 

Don’s job was to use the tractor and wagon to feed the cattle, scooping feed into the bunks, or doing hog chores with his father. Even in the seriousness of farm work, Don’s mischievousness and ingenuity showed through. He taught his sister to drive a tractor at a very young age so he would not have to move from tractor to wagon as the cattle were fed. This way she could help him complete his chores. Every member of the family pitched in to achieve their collective success.

Community Engagement

Agriculture also played a part in Don’s community activities. Don was a member of the Richland Hot Shots 4-H Club, where he had dairy calf and swine projects. Don spent hours caring for and training the animals that he showed at the fair held each summer in Coon Rapids.

In high school, Don was involved in Future Farmers of America. One large project that Don and his brother, Ron, completed was reorganizing the Spark’s family farm shop. The boys cleaned it, repaired a workbench, and built shelves for all the tools and drawers for all the bolts, nails, and washers. Finally, they painted the entire building red with white trim. Don’s dad, Calvin, was proud of the boys’ hard work.

A Fun-loving Student

Don started kindergarten when he was four years old because he wanted to be like his older brother, Ron. The Sparks children all attended school in Carrollton before that school closed. When Don was a sixth grader, the children began attending the Glidden Ralston School District.

Don was a bright but mischievous student while in high school. A childhood friend, Jim Weiderin, shared that he was involved in several shenanigans, including locking a teacher in a storage room near the lunchroom and moving the town police car from in front of city hall to the school’s football field. 

Even though Don enjoyed hijinks, he was a talented and kind student. As a freshman in college, Don offered to ride the Tilt-A-Whirl at a town festival with one of his younger sister’s friends to help ease her trepidation about the ride. 

After graduating from high school in 1964, Sparks attended Iowa State University. The shift from a small school to a large university was challenging for Don. It took a bit of adjusting, but Don earned a degree in Farm Operations Management in 1968.

Homefront

A Legacy of Service

Don Sparks’s hometown, Glidden, Iowa, has a long history of military service and significance in Iowa. It was the home of Merle Hay, the first Iowan killed in World War I. Colonel Paul Tibbetts, the pilot of the Enola Gay who dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, grew up in Glidden. Tibbetts named that aircraft after his mother, another Glidden native.

Support from the Heartland

While the Vietnam War progressed half a world away, Glidden celebrated its centennial on July 15, 1967. The small town’s population relied on agriculture. At this time, Iowa’s food production was focused on two crops—corn and soybeans, along with raising cattle and hogs.

In Iowa, other industries supported the war effort. The Iowa Ordnance Plant near Burlington was reactivated for use in 1966. The southeast Iowa defense plant assembled missiles. Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids, one of Iowa’s largest companies at the time, developed a line of aircraft products for the military and commercial aircraft industry.

At the time Sparks attended Iowa State University, the majority of students were not very politically engaged. However, in 1967, a new anti-war president and vice president were elected to the Student Body Government. This change continued in the early 1970s. The annual student festival of Veterinary Medicine, Engineering, Industrial Science, Home Economics, and Agriculture (known as “VEISHA”) was followed by a “March of Concern.” The shift was challenging to the traditionally conservative campus community.

Military Experience

Training for Deployment

Don Sparks attended Iowa State University on a deferment. Shortly after graduating, he was drafted on December 3, 1968. Over the Christmas holidays, Sparks prepared for his upcoming service by visiting family and friends. He was optimistic about his future. He shared his perspective on his upcoming deployment with a friend on New Year’s Eve, “well, this will be an adventure, and I have myself ready.” 

Sparks went to basic training at Fort Ord, California, in January 1969. He broke his ankle during basic training and missed some of the physical training. However, he stayed on the Army’s timetable for enlistments and completed his Advanced Infantry Training in March 1969, also at Fort Ord. 

Sparks returned home for a short time before being deployed to Vietnam. His mother, father, and younger sister accompanied him to the Omaha airport and said their goodbyes. His younger sister, Esta, recalled the two hour trip to Omaha as quiet and somber. 

Arrival Overseas

Sparks’s tour in Vietnam started on May 13, 1969. He received his in-country training at Chu Lai. This training was very short, just a few days, and was very limited. Don was issued an M-16 and fired it at a range. On May 30, 1969, he and five other soldiers were assigned to Company C, 3^rd Battalion, 21^st Infantry Regiment, 196^th Light Infantry Brigade, 23^rd Infantry (Americal) Division. 

His unit was assigned to Chu Lai in the Tien Phuoc District in the Quang Tin Province, an area abundant with rice farming. In this area, encounters with the local civilian population were very common. Vietnamese children accepted small gifts, like candy and gum, from the GIs. Sparks was known by his comrades as having little tolerance for the mistreatment of the Vietnamese civilians.

Ambush

About a month after Sparks’s arrival, on the morning of June 17, 1969, his squad was operating in a free fire zone, meaning that civilians were not allowed in the area. Company C left their night location, moving in a single file line. The company observed a woodcutter fleeing the area. Don and another soldier, Corporal Larry Graham, started to pursue the man. Another soldier who recognized the danger told them not to follow, but their acting platoon sergeant urged the men to once again follow the civilian. 

Five squad members pursued the man toward a straw-covered hooch (a slang term for a shelter) on the top of a steep incline while the remainder of the company waited. As they approached the hooch, the squad was ambushed. Both Graham and Sparks were hit and fell to the ground. The rest of the company retreated down the slope. No one from Company C was able to reach Sparks to offer aid because of enemy fire. Several members believed that both Sparks and Graham were dead.

The Commanding Officer called in an airstrike. Bombs were dropped around the ambush site to clear out the enemy. Soldiers from the 2^nd Platoon heard an American screaming for help and tried to reach him. In that action, Private First Class Anthony H. Figueroa was killed. 

On the afternoon of June 17, additional attempts were made to reach the two men, but the enemy held their position, keeping Sparks and Graham isolated at the ambush site. 

The following day, June 18, a recovery unit advanced to the ambush site to recover casualties and search for survivors. At the site, Larry Graham’s body was recovered. The only sign of Don Sparks was his boot, with a dog tag attached. His remains were never found. Officials surmised that Sparks’s body had been destroyed by the bombs. As there was no conclusive sign of his remains, he was listed as Missing in Action. 

Three days later, on June 20, 1969, Don’s family in Iowa was notified.  Siblings Esta and Russell were helping their father with farmwork when a sedan pulled in the driveway. Calvin instructed the children to finish up without him and walked to meet the men. He was told, “The Secretary of the Army regrets to inform you that your son, Private First Class Donalds Lee Sparks, is missing in action in Vietnam.”

Captured

However, Sparks had not been killed. After the ambush, Vietnamese forces spotted Sparks waving his shirt, trying to get the attention of the Americans. He had serious wounds to his right thigh and heel. Four North Vietnamese Army (NVA) soldiers captured him and carried him to a nearby aid station. His unit was positioned less than a mile away.

Sparks was then carried on to the CK120 Field Hospital. This field hospital sat along a mud road, situated in a valley. The hospital had a vast network of tunnels, complete with operating and recovery rooms. The rooms were supplied with a variety of medical tools like surgical gloves and scissors, and medicines like aspirin and dysentery tablets. 

In February 1971, a guerrilla reported seeing an American Prisoner of War (POW) with bandaged leg wounds at Phuoc Ha Village, around 4.5 miles from where Sparks was captured. 

Proof of Life?

Almost a year later, on May 17, 1970, two letters written by Donald Sparks to his family were discovered by U.S. soldiers in the pockets of a Viet Cong casualty. The letters were dated April 10, 1970. 

Don Sparks’s family was made aware of the letters through unofficial channels. A disgruntled American soldier, Specialist Fourth Class Dave Krommenhoek, wrote a letter to the Sioux City Iowa Journal complaining about U.S. involvement in Vietnam. An American woman, sharing the soldier’s sentiments, began corresponding with him. Krommenhoek told the woman of letters recovered that were written by a soldier from Carroll County, Iowa. The woman contacted the mayor of Carroll, Iowa, who in turn contacted the Sparks family. 

Within the same week, the Sparks family also received a letter recognizing the first anniversary of Don’s MIA status from their survivor assistance officer, a military liaison assigned to their family. The officer helped the family obtain copies of these letters. One arrived on August 10, 1970, and the second arrived in January 1971, after the 8^th Military Personnel Group crime lab verified their legitimacy.

Sparks’s status was reclassified to Prisoner of War (POW), and he received a promotion to sergeant. 

Details from Imprisonment

Interviews from North Vietnamese medical officers have shed light on the details of Sparks’s time in captivity. He was fed the highest level of rations at the hospital, and with this diet, his physical condition began to improve. With this improvement, Don became useful to the hospital staff. They used his blood for transfusions for wounded NVA soldiers. 

A nurse who cared for Sparks said he was kind and emotional. A nurse and assistant pharmacist at CK 120 both agreed that Don was well-liked. He was given a diary in which he wrote often.  

A group of people known as a proselytizing cadre, visited Sparks, took letters that he had written home, and censored them. Proselytizing cadres visited POW hospitals to weaken American morale through political coercion and propaganda. They were known to use physical force, even torture, to get information from prisoners. 

Escape Attempts

As Sparks’s health improved, he attempted to escape. He sat by the hospital window and listened for the sound of helicopters in the distance. One night, hearing helicopters in the area, he fled the hospital. Two days later, he was returned by villagers. 

Sparks devised another plan. He took a set of white clothing and climbed to the top of a nearby hill, hoping to signal an aircraft. His willingness to take on this challenge, given his injuries, shows his desperation and determination. Unfortunately, he did not see any aircraft, and returned two days later because of hunger.

A final attempt again involved helicopters. Sparks heard them over the hospital and fled, but he was captured by guards four days later. This angered the guards, who threatened to kill him. After this incident, he did not attempt to escape again. 

Leaving CK120

After Sparks had sufficiently recovered from his injuries, hospital officials had him transferred to a rehabilitation center, known as a Jungle Camp, where other Americans were held. On the day of the transfer, Sparks left CK120 at 8:00 a.m. with a Vietnamese hospital worker. Around noon, Don was left with a guard who would take him on to the camp. That was the last reliable witness sighting of Donald Sparks. It was February 1970, eight months after his capture. Sparks never made it to the Jungle Camp.

Commemoration

Waiting at Home

In Iowa, Don’s father Calvin, served as family spokesperson. Local media were very concerned with his son’s whereabouts and well-being, and family and friends wanted to know what they could do to support the family. Unfortunately, the only thing they could do was wait. The government assigned a Survival Assistance Officer, William Batt, to the Sparks family. The lieutenant colonel was the family’s liaison with the Department of Defense.

On April 18, 1979, the Department of Defense held a hearing regarding Don’s MIA/ POW status. The Sparks family was prepared to argue against declaring their beloved son and brother dead. A representative from the National League of POW/MIA Families attended to support them in this proceeding. At the hearing the government maintained, “The debriefing of returned prisoners of war following the ceasefire agreement of 27 January 1973 has revealed no information of his [Sparks’s] fate.”

Memorialization

Donald Lee Sparks was declared dead on November 5, 1979, a little over ten years since his arrival in Vietnam. His name is among the 58,318 names on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. His name is permanently engraved on the Honolulu Memorial at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.

Remembrance

In the heartland, our lives are intertwined, dependent on one another and the enduring strength of the land. Donald Lee Sparks was a true son of Iowa, deeply rooted in this communal way of life. Growing up on a family farm, attending a small, local public school his life began with the simplest, yet richest of experiences. From these foundations, Don Sparks cultivated a profound understanding of hard work, the unbreakable bonds of community, and the importance of sacrifice for something greater than oneself. 

Here in the heartland, we believe in collective effort and shared joy. We come together to work and to celebrate side-by-side. Yet, Sparks’s service and sacrifice were solitary acts of bravery, a personal sacrifice made in devotion to the community and country that he cherished.

Now, with his family and friends, we wait together in hope of Don’s return. We wait for him to return to this land he loved, where he can rest alongside his mother and father, his journey complete in the embrace of the Iowa soil which he loved.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

“Ceremony honors U.S. POWs, MIAs.” The Des Moines Register [Des Moines, IA], July 19, 1979. Newspapers.com (131715346).

“Effects of Vietnam didn’t end with U.S. Withdrawal.” The Daily Nonpareil [Council Bluffs, IA], November 11, 1982. Newspapers.com (962160012).

“Glidden Boy Wins First in Speech Event.” Carroll Daily Times Herald [Carroll, Iowa], April 23, 1964. Newspapers.com (14815823).

“Holding Hope for a Soldier’s Return Home.” Carrol Times Herald [Carroll, IA], October 11, 2019. https://carrollspaper.com/news/holding-hope-for-a-soldier-s-return-home/article_efb0e8c8-ec35-11e9-84b3-ab8a47743a37.html. 

Iowa. Carroll County. 1950 U.S. Census. Digital images. https://ancestry.com.

“Iowa MIA relatives still struggle to cope with the unknown.” Cedar Rapids Gazette [Cedar Rapids, IA], August 5, 1991. Newspapers.com (551724595).

“Memorial Day rites can’t comfort families with sons missing in war.” The Des Moines Register [Des Moines, IA], May 28, 1978. Newspapers.com (129778096).

“Missing Son Still Alive, Sparks Feel.” Carroll Times Herald [Carroll, IA], November 24, 1975. Newspapers.com (8301941).

“Parents Cling to Hope that POW Son will Return.” The Des Moines Register [Des Moines, IA], March 2, 1987. Newspapers.com (129485078).

Perkey, Arlyn. Email interview with the author. March 6, 2025.

Perkey, Arlyn W. Last Known Alive. Learning Moments Press, 2019.

“Pfc. Sparks Listed Missing.” Carroll Daily Times Herald [Carroll, IA], July 17, 1969. Newspapers.com (2286153).

“Questions, but no answers, for MIA families.” The Daily Nonpareil [Council Bluffs, IA], November 10, 1982. Newspapers.com (962159835).

Raasch, Esta. Email interview with the author. April 2, 2025. 

“Relatives of Iowa MIAs receive new medals.” The Des Moines Register [Des Moines, IA], July 28, 1984. Newspapers.com (131741426).

“Sparks POW Bracelet Available.” Carroll Times Herald [Carroll, IA], June 6, 1973. Newspapers.com(2246449). 

“‘Special Hell’ for these Iowans.” Des Moines Tribune [Des Moines, IA], March 21, 1978. 

Newspapers.com (325094017).

“The Search for Iowa’s POWs.” The Des Moines Register [Des Moines, IA], April 20, 1980. Newspapers.com (132282609).

“War different for every soldier, teen is told.” The Des Moines Register [Des Moines, IA], April 25, 1985. Newspapers.com (131955766).

Secondary Sources

“3-21 In History.” U. S. Army. Accessed February 24, 2025. https://www.army.mil/article/166800/3_21_in_history.

“1970: Iowa State Protests After Kent State Shootings.” Iowa State Daily [Ames, IA], May 8, 2020. https://iowastatedailyarchive.com/2020/05/08/1970-iowa-state-kent-state-protest/.

“City of Glidden.” City of Glidden, Iowa. Accessed February 7, 2025. https://www.cityofglidden.org/. 

“Donald Lee Sparks.” American Battle Monuments Commission. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/sparks%3Ddonald-0. 

“Donald Lee Sparks.” Defense Personnel POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000001UimEAE.  

“Donald Lee Sparks.” The Wall of Faces, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Accessed February 28, 2025. https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/49039/DONALD-L-SPARKS/.

“Glidden, Iowa: Bookend to Two World Wars.” Cedar Rapids Gazette [Cedar Rapids, IA], April 9, 2017.https://www.thegazette.com/guest-columnists/glidden-iowa-bookend-to-two-world-wars/.

“Glidden-Ralston School History.” Glidden-Ralston Community School District. Accessed November 5, 2024. https://www.glidden-ralston.k12.ia.us/school-history.

“Memorial Union Gold Star Hall Directory.” Iowa State University. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.mu.iastate.edu/gold-star-hall-directory/honoree/donald-sparks

“Memory of Soldier Sparks Giving.” Forever True for Iowa State. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.foundation.iastate.edu/s/1463/images/editor_documents/news/insights/2018_fall.pdf. 

Perkey, Arlyn. Last Known Alive: The Search for Sergeant First Class Donald L. Sparks, WIA, MIA, POW (Wisdom of Life). Learning Moments Press, 2019.

“The Economics of Agriculture.” Iowa PBS. Accessed February 7, 2025. https://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/mypath/2663/economics-agriculture. 

“The Role Iowans’ Played in the Vietnam War.” Iowa PBS. Accessed February 7, 2025. https://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/mypath/2466/role-iowans-played-vietnam-war. 

“Sgt. Donald Lee Sparks.” Find a Grave. Updated October 9, 2014. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/137020511/donald-lee-sparks.   

“The Scary Glidden Triangle.” Iowa State Daily [Ames, IA], October 8, 2002. https://iowastatedaily.com/199749/opinion/columnthe-scary-glidden-triangle/.

“Total Population for Iowa’s Incorporated Places.” Iowa Data Center. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.iowadatacenter.org/datatables/PlacesAll/plpopulation18502000.pdf.

We Are ISU: Snapshots of Student Life. Online exhibition. University Library Online Exhibits, Iowa State University. https://exhibits.lib.iastate.edu/we-are-isu-snapshots-of-student-life/profile-1959-1988. 

“Vietnam War 50th Year Commemoration.” U.S. Army. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.army.mil/vietnamwar/history.html. 

This profile was researched and created through the Researching Silent Heroes program, sponsored by the American Battle Monuments Commission.