Rob's Genealogy

Person Page 30

Roy Cuaron Reyes

born 14 April 1931, died 2 February 2018
Photo of Roy C Reyes taken at his office in Fort Ord, California, in April 1969. (Photo: robsgenealogy.net)

Family: Marianne Bauer (born 4 January 1932, died 22 September 2020)

Facts and Notes

  • Birth: 14 April 1931; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO; Born at 9 A.M.1
  • Baptism: 9 August 1931; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO; Alejandro and Remijia Cuaron were his godparents2,3
  • Confirmation: 2 February 1934; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO; Confirmed by Bishop Schuler in the Church of Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria2,3
  • Residence: 1935; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO4
  • Residence: About 1940; 1201 County Road D039, Las Cruces, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABG; The road, also known as Rancho Aldodonese Road, is about 1.1 miles northwest of the "Reyes Homestead." Roy and his siblings used to swim in the adjacent canal5
  • Residence: 1 April 1940; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO; Age: 8; Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Son4
  • Military: Between 8 October 1948 and 31 May 1976; See person note
  • Marriage License: 8 March 1954; Marianne Bauer; Bamberg, Bayern, GermanyBGO; After interviewing Roy and Marianne, 1LT Paul Carberry, a chaplain of the 26th Infantry Division, recommended that they be allowed to marry.6
  • Marriage: 15 April 1954; Marianne Bauer; Forchheim, Bayern, GermanyBGO; Marianne and Roy were officially married on Thursday, 15 April 1954, at the registry office in Forchheim, Germany. However, they celebrated their anniversaries on 18 April, the presumed date of their church wedding in the St. Martin Catholic church in Forchheim.7
  • Residence: After January 1969; Salinas, Monterey County, California, USABGO8,9,10
  • Occupation: Between 1976 and 1996; Seaside, Monterey County, California, USABGO; US Postal Service letter carrier10
  • Death: 2 February 2018; Salinas, Monterey County, California, USABGO10
  • Burial: 17 March 2018; Garden of Memories Memorial Park, Salinas, Monterey County, California, USABG10
  • Note:

    Roy Reyes Military Service:

    Roy C. Reyes was a career soldier who served in the US Army Infantry and retired with the rank of sergeant major. He was only 17 years old when he enlisted in San Francisco on 8 October 1948, but his older brother, Vicente “Chico” Reyes Jr., forged their parent’s signature on the permission form so that Roy could join. His first duty station after completing basic training at Fort Ord, California, was Bamberg, Germany, where he was assigned to Company K of the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He excelled at soldiering and within three years had attained the temporary rank of sergeant first class (E-6).

    He spent most of the 1950’s in Germany, but was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Fort Carson, Colorado, for several of those years. He served an unaccompanied tour in South Korea from June 1960 to June 1961, then returned to Germany, where he was assigned to the 24th Infantry Division.

    In 1966 he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 47th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, where the division was training for its pending deployment to Vietnam. He was promoted to first sergeant (E-8) in the summer of that year and assigned to Company A. The division deployed to the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam in February 1967, where it was charged with engaging and eliminating enemy forces and assisting South Vietnamese pacification efforts. 1SG Reyes was wounded for the first time on his 36th birthday-14 April 1967-when the armored personnel carrier he was riding on struck a land mine. He was thrown off the vehicle and suffered injuries to his ear drums and lower back, both of which plagued him for the rest of his life. He was wounded again on 27 April, sustaining a fragmentation wound to the shin of his lower left leg. His mother died on 18 May, and he was sent home on emergency leave to attend her funeral, thereby shortening his first Vietnam tour. In addition to two Purple Hearts, 1SG Reyes was awarded his first Bronze Star medal for “meritorious service in connection with military operations” during this tour of duty.

    In June 1969, he was again sent to Vietnam, where he was assigned as the first sergeant for Company B, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry (Airmobile), 1st Cavalry Division. On 30 June, just a little over three weeks after arriving in Vietnam, he sustained a fragmentation wound to his left shoulder and on 27 July, he sustained a bullet wound to his right shoulder. It was during one of these actions that he earned the Bronze Star medal with “V” device for crawling forward while under fire to administer first aid to a wounded man. He was awarded a Silver Star medal for “gallantry in action” when, on 15 April 1970, while his firebase was under attack, he directed the evacuation of the wounded and directed the perimeter fires that broke the enemy’s attack. He participated in the Cambodian Campaign that started on 29 April, before ending his second combat tour in June 1970.

    He spent the last six years of his military career at Fort Ord, California, and retired as a sergeant major on 31 May 1976.

Citations

  1. [S770] State of New Mexico, Bureau of Public Health, New Mexico, Bureau of Public Health, Certificate of Birth, New Mexico. Bureau of Public Health. Certificate of Birth., Roy C. Reyes, No. 275, 15 April 1931
  2. [S592] Our Lady of Purification (Dona Ana, New Mexico, USA), Certificate of Confirmation, Our Lady of Purification (Dona Ana, New Mexico, USA). Certificate of Confirmation. Privately held by Robert Reyes, Lorton, Virginia. 2016., Certificate for Roy C. Reyes, dated 13 March 2000
  3. [S783] "FamilySearch", "FamilySearch"., Baptism record for Roy Reyes
  4. [S390] Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1940usfedcen&h=109485601&indiv=try, Year: 1940; Census Place: Dona Ana, Dona Ana, New Mexico; Roll: T627_2443; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 7-3, Record for Vicente Reyes
  5. [S762] Firsthand Knowledge, Personal Recollection, Informant: Senon Reyes.
  6. [S765] Official Correspondence, US Army, Letter from 1LT Paul Carberry, Chaplain, to Commanding Officer, 26th Infantry Regiment; Marriage Interview, 8 March 1954. The letter is part of the marriage application package prepared by Roy C. Reyes and Marianne Bauer.
  7. [S586] Bayern, Germany, Standesamt Forchheim, Heiratskunde (Marriage Certificate), Bayern, Germany. Standesamt Forchheim. Heiratskunde (Marriage Certificate)., Nr 34/1954, Certificate for Marianne Bauer and Roy Reyes, Copy was produced by the registry office in Forchheim, Germany, on 23 August 1974.
  8. [S661] Ancestry.com, U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=USDirectories&h=1390234032&indiv=try, Record for Roy C Reyes
  9. [S662] Ancestry.com, U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2, http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=USpublicrecords2&h=379453527&indiv=try, Record for Roy C Reyes
  10. [S762] Firsthand Knowledge, Personal Recollection, Informant: Robert Reyes.