Rep. Mike Garcia (CA-25) recently honored the late Bill Reynolds on the House Floor. Reynolds, a Vietnam veteran, died on Jan. 11, and was well known in California’s 25th District, specifically as a veteran’s advocate.
Here is a portion of Garcia’s remarks:
“I rise today to honor a fallen hero who graced our glorious nation for 47 years. Mr. Bill Reynolds, one of my best friends and a loyal wing man, crossed into heaven to be alongside the Lord on Jan. 11.
“As a young man, Bill also crossed oceans to fight for this nation in the jungles of Vietnam in 1967. In fact, he was one of the few surviving members of the well known Boys of 67’ the Army’s Charlie Company, 9th Division, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment.
“He was wounded in combat on the Mekong Delta on June 19, 1967 in one of the fiercest days of the Vietnam War during the Battle of My Lai. Despite being wounded, Bill continued to fight alongside his fellow Americans as they took on heavy fire. His brave service earned him the Bronze Star as well as the Purple Heart.
“The blood he shed and the sacrifices that he made overseas during combat operations were matched only by his commitment and his passion to take care of the veterans back home.
“In fact, in my hometown of Santa Clarita there is a Veterans Memorial that stands today because of Bill’s hard work and his advocacy. In the halls of a local veteran support center, there are several dozen biographies of our city’s local heroes, our veterans, and all of these biographies were written by Bill after he personally sat down, interviewed, and discussed their experiences with them each individually.
“Bill loved our veterans because he understood what it meant to truly serve, and he understood what it meant to truly sacrifice. In his own words, he said, ‘America was founded on the courage to fight for freedom, and that’s what the veteran community does. They take pride in that, there’s no better family than the veteran community.’
“Bill was an American who cared until the very end and will continue to look over us and our precious nation like the loyal wingman that he’s always been. May God Bless Bill Reynolds and his family, and may God Bless this great nation that he gave so much and fought so hard for.”
