COLTON>> On Wednesday, April 5, Vietnam war veteran Rudy Reyes, was honored with a military banner.
The banner, paid for by Reyes' sister, Rose Martinez, and several of Reyes' nieces and nephews, was raised to honor Reyes for his service of three years in the army, from 1968 to 1971.
Reyes was born in San Bernardino, California, but has lived in Colton, California for most of his life.
After his return from Vietnam, Reyes lived in Colton until October 2016, when he moved to Beaumont, California. Reyes was also a graduate of Colton High School, class of 1966.
After graduating high school, Reyes attended the University of Redlands on a scholarship. However, Reyes withdrew from classes after a year.
"I decided to look for other things, let’s put it that way,” Reyes said.
Reyes recalls he was about 20 years old when he was drafted by the U.S. Army. Once in, he was recruited to become an officer.
Reyes completed his Officer Candidate School in March of 1969 and entered Vietnam as Second Lieutenant, serving in 101st Airborne. Reyes described his experience in combat as a Platoon Leader, stating, “It made me grow up awfully quick, because being a Platoon Leader at 21 years old, a good number of my soldiers were older than I was. I was their leader.”
Reyes also opened up about some of his more humorous experiences in the army. He recalled an instance where the men began shooting at their own shadows, mistaking them for the enemy as a result of the moon rising behind their position. “It was a rather humorous situation.” Reyes said, chuckling.
Reyes held the rank of Second Lieutenant of his platoon for “roughly six months”, in which they conducted combat operations. He spent the last several months in an administrative position in the headquarters division of 101st Airborne at Camp Eagle. “Upon my return from Vietnam, I finished out my tour with the John F. Kennedy Institute for Military Assistance; that’s a long word,” he added jokingly.
After his discharge in the summer of 1971, Reyes returned to his education at Cal State Fullerton, majoring in business administration. Following his discharge and return to education, Reyes worked for many companies. He finally found permanent work as the Lottery Sales District Manager out of the San Bernardino Office for the California State Lottery, which he described as “probably the best job I’ve ever had in my life.”
Ana Sauseda, from the office of the city clerk, helped put together the ceremony for the Reyes family and those close to them. Reyes was grateful to her and everyone who participated in the ceremony.