Joshua Sparling (born 1981) is a

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

in the U.S. Army from Port Huron,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, who was wounded in the

War in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. , style="background:#F88" , Coalition of Gulf War, Coalition victory * Kuwait, State of Kuwait resumes self-governance over all Kuwaiti sovereign territory * Esta ...

. Since December 2005, Joshua has received significant publicity for being the victim of multiple incidents of aggression, attributed to his status as a veteran of the

Injury

Joshua Sparling was injured in Iraq by an IED on November 20, 2005, and returned to the U.S. on November 24, 2005, where he underwent multiple surgeries to treat his wounds, including severe injuries to his right leg

According to a letter written by Sparling's father

on the day he arrived at

Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), officially known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951, was the United States Army, U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in Washington, D.C., it served more ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Sparling received a letter from the

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that turned out to be anonymous

hate mail Hate mail (as electronic, posted, or otherwise) is a form of harassment, usually consisting of invective and potentially intimidating or threatening comments towards the recipient. Hate mail often contains exceptionally abusive, foul or otherwi ...

expressing the wish that the soldier reading the card would di

Spitting incident

On 27 January 2007, at an antiwar protest at Washington DC, a protester wearing an Airborne jacket spit near him, according to the New York Times. Sparling spat back, according to the NY Times report

an allegation that Sparling denied during a Hannity and Colmes interview on the Fox News

Supportive publicity

Sparling's experiences have been featured by numerous media outlets and weblogs supportive of the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

effort. Media coverage of the death wish triggered an outpouring of over 20,000 cards and gifts to wounded

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

s at Walter Reed. Sparling was championed by

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commentator

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American conservative television presenter, broadcaster and writer. He hosts ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a radio syndication, nationally syndicated talk radio show, has hosted a Hannity, sel ...

, who gave him gifts of several movies and an

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. He has also appeared and spoken at

Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (born October 7, 1943) is an American political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. A veteran of the Vietnam War, North was a National Sec ...

's "Freedom Alliance" concerts. Additionally, Sparling and his parents were invited to and attended the 2006 State of the Union Address as guests of J. Dennis Hastert.State of the Union Invite
, Retrieved January 30, 2007.

References

External links

* Brenner, Anit

La Canada Valley Sun

No Spit Zone

Spitting Image * Kilmeade, Brian
Insult to Injury
Fox News * Malkin, Michell

Malkin Blog * Murphy, Shanno
Wounded soldier flooded with goodwill messages
Port Huron Times Herald * Murphy, Shanno
Some 20,000 well-wishers pen soldier who got hate mail
Lansing State Journal
The Sean Hannity Show
link to video from The Political Teen Blog

Airport insult incident

Protest Focuses on Iraq Troop Increase {{DEFAULTSORT:Sparling, Joshua 1981 births Living people United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army non-commissioned officers