Reginald R Myers
Reginald was born on the 26th of November, 1919, in Boise, Idaho, and went to school in Salt Lake City, Utah. After high school he attended the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, and was in their Reserve Officer Training Corps program, reaching the rank of Cadet Colonel. Reginald graduated with a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering in June of 1941 and three months later he resigned his Army Reserve commission in order to accept an appointment as a Second Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps.
Reginald went to Marine Officers' Basic School at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and was then transferred to the Marine Corps Base in San Diego, California, where he served as a company commander. The following year, he served a year of duty at sea aboard the USS New Orleans and fought in several South Pacific engagements. By January of 1945, Reginald had been promoted to Major and in June he returned to the Pacific theater with the 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, during the assault on Okinawa and the landing and occupation of North China.
After World War 2 and before the Korean War, Reginald was stationed in California, Virginia, and North Carolina. He was deployed to Korea in July of 1950 as the executive officer of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, and was awarded the Bronze Star with V device for his actions during the Inchon Landing and a Gold Star in for actions four days later for rescuing two wounded Marines. It was his actions during an attack on a military base in Hagaru-ri that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Executive Officer of the Third Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division (Reinforced), in action against enemy aggressor forces in Korea on November 29, 1950. Assuming command of a composite unit of Army and Marine service and headquarters elements totalling approximately 250 men, during a critical stage in the vital defense of the strategically important military base at Hagaru-ri, Major Myers immediately initiated a determined and aggressive counterattack against a well-entrenched and clearly concealed enemy force numbering an estimated 4,000. Severely handicapped by a lack of trained personnel and experienced leaders in his valiant efforts to regain maximum ground prior to daylight, he persisted in constantly exposing himself to intense, accurate and sustained hostile fire in order to direct and supervise the employment of his men and to encourage and spur them on in pressing the attack. Inexorably moving forward up the steep, snow-covered slope with his depleted group in the face of apparently insurmountable odds, he concurrently directed artillery and mortar fire with superb skill and, although losing 170 of his men during fourteen hours of raging combat in sub-zero temperatures, continued to reorganize his unit and spearhead the attack which resulted in 600 enemy killed and 500 wounded. By his exceptional and valorous leadership throughout, Major Myers contributed directly to the success of his unit in restoring the perimeter. His resolute spirit of self sacrifice and unfaltering devotion to duty enhance and sustain the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Reginald returned to the States in June of 1951 and was assigned to the Basic School at Quantico. Here he was a battalion commander and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Before being transferred to Washington DC to be an inspector-instructor until July of 1955, He received the Medal of Honor from President Truman in a ceremony at the White House on the 29th of October, 1951. Reginald then completed the Senior School course in Quantico and then served as the commanding officer of Headquarters and Service Battalion and then the executive officer of the Basic School. He spent the last ten years of his career between London, England, Okinawa, and Washington DC, in roles like an assistant naval Attache and head of the International Plans Section and Strategic Plans Division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Reginald completed the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in July of 1965 and then received his master of science degree from the George Washington University two months later. He retired from the Marine Corps on the 1st of May, 1967, after twenty-six years of service at the rank of Colonel. Reginald and his wife Margaret moved to Florida after owning a recreational boating business in Virginia, where he kept no military memorabilia and most of his customers had no clues to his past. Reginald Rodney Myers died on the 23rd of October, 2005, at the age of 85 due to a stroke. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery: Section 60, Lot 884.
