There is a U.S. flag engraved at the top of his headstone. The headstone inscription reads:
Grover Spaulding
Born April 28, 1920
Gave His Life for His Country
July 9, 1942
On That Ever Golden Shore
Where We Meet to Part No More
"Died at sea as result of German u-boat attack on the U.S. Merchant Marine ship "Benjamin Brewster" during World War II."
--Source
"The Brewster left Baytown, Texas, on July 5 and anchored the first night off Galveston. Her three ranking officers were sailing for the first time in their new jobs. Capt. Peter G. J. Hammel was taking no chances. On the previous trip en route to Baytown, their ship picked up 19 survivors from a torpedoed tanker from the very waters of this trip.
The next leg of what would be her last trip was also very short. She anchored off Sabine Pass, Texas, the second night. The cargo of aviation gasoline was comparable to ammunition cargo, in some ways, worse.
The third night, at 8:30 p.m., Capt. Hammel ordered the anchor dropped in 37 feet of water, 2 ½ miles off the west end of Grand Isle. He was sure the ship would be safe from attacking U-boats in the shallow water.
Wrong!
Two torpedoes struck the ship in rapid succession at 11:15 p.m. The results were disastrous.
Intense flame covered the ship immediately. The only men to survive were those who jumped overboard on the upwind side. Some swam to a burned-out lifeboat, which had drifted off from the ship when the ropes holding it burned through. Others swam as best they could through the burning oil and gasoline.
The senior surviving officer, First Assistant Engineer John B. Stirling, tells what happened: “At 11:30 I was thrown from my bunk to the deck by a heavy explosion. I grabbed my lifebelt, and as I opened the door to leave, the second explosion occurred. My room was brilliantly illuminated by fire. When I ran out and jumped overboard, the surface of the water for a considerable distance was covered with burning oil or gasoline, almost surrounding the vessel.”
He goes on to describe the terrible scene.
“Several crew members and myself plus four navy gun crewmen swam to a lifeboat, which was on fire. We extinguished the fire and climbed aboard, helping those who were too burned or bruised to board.
The bodies of boatswain Orrin E. Small and able seaman Grover Spaulding were recovered."
--Source
"At 06.19 hours on 10 July 1942 the Benjamin Brewster (Master Peter George J. Hammel) was hit by two torpedoes from U-67 on the port side about ten seconds apart, while lying at anchor for the night off the coast of Louisiana 60 miles west of Southwest Pass close into shore in about six fathoms of water. One struck at the bridge and the other aft, causing the tanker to immediately burst into flames from bridge forward. Burning oil and gasoline covered the surface of the water for some distance around the vessel. Because the wind kept the flames forward some of the eight officers, 27 men and five armed guards (the ship was armed with one 5in and two .30cal guns) were able to leave the ship from the stern with one partially burned lifeboat as the tanker rapidly sank within three minutes. Six officers, 18 crewmen and one armed guard died, most of them from burns. Three hours later eight crewmen and three armed guards in the lifeboat made landfall at Grand Isle, Louisiana. A fishing boat spotted their campfire, picked them up and transferred them to a Coast Guard vessel, which took them to Burrwood, Louisiana and thence to the Marine Hospital at New Orleans. Three crewmen and one armed guard were picked up by a Coast Guard vessel and also taken to Burrwood.
The Benjamin Brewster laid in 37 feet of water and burned for nine days until the cargo was consumed. The structure above the water was reduced to a molten mass of metal by the intense heat and the tanker was a total loss. The wreck was salved in September 1951 and was broken up."
--Source