Person Page 30

Roy Cuaron Reyes¹

Photo of Roy C Reyes taken at his office in Fort Ord, California, in April 1969. (Photo: robsgenealogy.net)

Facts and Notes

• Birth: 14 April 1931; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO; Born at 9 A.M.^2,1
• Baptism: 9 August 1931; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO; Alejandro and Remijia Cuaron were his godparents^3,4
• Confirmation: 2 February 1934; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO; Confirmed by Bishop Schuler in the Church of Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria^3,4
• Residence: 1935; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO⁵
• Residence: 1935; Doña Ana, Doña Ana, New Mexico, USABGO¹
• 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 canal⁶
• Residence: 1940; Election Precinct 2, Doña Ana, Doña Ana, New Mexico, USABG; Age: 8; Attended School: Yes; Enumeration District: 7-3; GradeCompleted: Elementary school, 1st grade; ResidenceFarmNineteenThirtyFive: No; Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Son¹
• Residence: 1 April 1940; Doña Ana, Doña Ana County, New Mexico, USABGO; Age: 8; Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Son⁵
• Military: Between 8 October 1948 and 31 May 1976; See person note
• Marriage License: 8 March 1954; Marianne Bauer; Bamberg, Bavaria, GermanyBGO; After interviewing Roy and Marianne, 1LT Paul Carberry, a chaplain of the 26th Infantry Division, recommended that they be allowed to marry.⁷
• Marriage: 15 April 1954; Marianne Bauer; Forchheim, Bavaria, 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.⁸
• Residence: After January 1969; Salinas, Monterey County, California, USABGO^9,10,11
• Occupation: Between 1976 and 1996; Seaside, Monterey County, California, USABGO; US Postal Service letter carrier¹¹
• Death: 2 February 2018; Salinas, Monterey County, California, USABGO¹¹
• Burial: 17 March 2018; Garden of Memories Memorial Park, Salinas, Monterey County, California, USABG¹¹

• Note: Roy Reyes Military Service:
  
  Roy C. Reyes was a career soldier in the U.S. Army Infantry, retiring with the rank of Sergeant Major. He enlisted in the Army on October 8, 1948, in San Francisco at the age of just 17. His older brother, Vicente “Chico” Reyes Jr., helped him join by forging their parents’ signatures on the required permission form. After completing basic training at Fort Ord, California, Roy received his first assignment in Bamberg, Germany, where he was posted to Company K, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He quickly distinguished himself and rose through the ranks, achieving the temporary rank of Sergeant First Class (E-6) within three years.
  
  Roy spent most of the 1950s stationed in Germany, with additional postings at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Fort Carson, Colorado. From June 1960 to June 1961, he served an unaccompanied tour in South Korea, after which he returned to Germany, this time assigned to the 24th Infantry Division.
  
  In 1966, Roy was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 47th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, at Fort Riley, Kansas, where the unit was preparing for deployment to Vietnam. Promoted to First Sergeant (E-8) in the summer of that year, he was placed in Company A. In February 1967, the division deployed to the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam, engaging in both combat operations and pacification missions. On his 36th birthday (April 14, 1967), 1SG Reyes was wounded when the armored personnel carrier he was riding struck a land mine. He was thrown from the vehicle, suffering lasting injuries to his eardrums and lower back. Just two weeks later, on April 27, he was wounded again—this time by shrapnel to his lower left leg. His first tour was cut short when he was granted emergency leave following the death of his mother on May 18, 1967. For his service, he was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star Medal for “meritorious service in connection with military operations.”
  
  In June 1969, Roy returned to Vietnam for a second tour, now serving as First Sergeant for Company B, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry (Airmobile), 1st Cavalry Division. Just three weeks into the deployment, on June 30, he sustained a fragmentation wound to his left shoulder, followed by a gunshot wound to his right shoulder on July 27. During one of these engagements, he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal with “V” device for valor, having crawled forward under enemy fire to administer first aid to a wounded soldier. He later received the Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action on April 15, 1970, after directing perimeter defenses and evacuating the wounded while his firebase was under attack. He also participated in the Cambodian Campaign, which began on April 29, 1970, before concluding his second combat tour in June 1970.
  
  Roy spent the final six years of his distinguished military career stationed at Fort Ord, California, and officially retired on May 31, 1976, with the rank of Sergeant Major.

• Related Pages: Ancestors of Roy C. Reyes; Descendants of Pilar Miranda; Garden of Memories Memorial Park List of People; Veterans

Citations

1. [S373] Ancestry.com, 1940 United States Federal Census, https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=2442&h=109485601&indiv=try, Year: 1940; Census Place: Dona Ana, Dona Ana, New Mexico; Roll: m-t0627-02443; Page: 2A; Enumeration District: 7-3, Record for Vicinta Ryan
2. [S883] Vital Records, New Mexico Bureau of Public Health, Certificate of Birth, Number 275, 15 Apr 1931. Record for Roy C. Reyes.
3. [S791] Church Records, Our Lady of Purification Church (Dona Ana, New Mexico), Certificate of Confirmation for Roy C. Reyes, photocopy dated 13 March 2000
4. [S791] Church Records, Our Lady of Purification Church, Registrum Baptizatorum, Record 98/721, 21 Sep 1927, Record for Roy Reyes.
5. [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
6. [S762] Personal Recollection, Informant: Senon Reyes.
7. [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.
8. [S771] Official Records, 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.
9. [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
10. [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
11. [S762] Personal Recollection, Informant: Robert Reyes.