U.S. Military Academy, Class of 1945

Captain Spragins was the pilot of a F-80C Shooting Star fighter interceptor with the 16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Group. On 12 May 1951, while on a combat mission near Chorwon, Korea, his aircraft received a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire, its napalm tank caught fire, it lost its right wing and crashed.

Spragins was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.