Double Silver Star hero
killed in traffic accident
The Opp News Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin Reynolds was killed in a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Ala. Hwy 52 and Ala. Hwy. 299 (the Opp Bypass) Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 10:13 a.m. An unidentified 42-year-old male was driving westbound on Hwy 52 when it collided with the Reynolds vehicle northbound on the bypass. Both drivers were taken to Mizell Memorial Hospital where Reynolds was pronounced dead and the other driver was treated for non-life threatening injuries. Reynolds was a well-known Opp resident and hailed as a Ôtrue heroÕ by the men he commanded in the Vietnam War. After risking his life to save his soldiersÕ lives more than 40 years before, Sgt. Maj. Reynolds heroic actions earned him a Silver Star in November, 2009 during a dual award and retirement ceremony at the Ft. Rucker U.S. Army Aviation Museum. That award ceremony was the culmination of requests made by the men he commanded and rescued during the war. The Silver Star was an advancement from his Bronze Star for his action in rescuing fellow soldiers while taking fire during a battle against the North Vietnamese Army in Kon Tum Province in 1968. The advancement was his second Silver Star, each earned for action occurring within two months of each other, the first Silver earned Jan. 19, 1968 and the second Feb. 26, 1968. In an interview with Sgt. Maj. Reynolds after the Silver Star ceremony, he relived parts of the rescue and while telling The Opp News said he had no hard feelings about not receiving the Silver Star earlier. In his words; ÒWe were in a chopper and saw a crater hole with four or five men in it who were being fired on from all directions. ÒI told our pilot to put us in and he said ÔAre you sure?Õ and I said ÔYes, they need some help.Ó Reynolds said that as the chopper hovered over the LZ (landing zone) the craft came under a tremendous amount of ground fire which hit the gas tank. ÒGas was flying everywhere and now the chopper pilot was wounded. He shouted Ôhold onÕ and made us lay down on the deck of the crippled chopper.Ó The damaged chopper managed to land near a special forces camp and a captain came running out to meet it. ÒWhatÕs going on?Ó he said. ÒI asked him if I could have his chopper sitting over there because ours was disabled and on fire. He said ÔyesÕ so we took it and got back to the crater hole and managed to land. ÒWhen we got in (the fight) the company commander told me ÔI need a platoon leader for the remnants of the first platoon because he is cut off up yonder on that hill where the fire is burning. ÒI took the other part of his platoon Ð with elephant grass burning and what have you all around us Ð we assaulted, and took the hill. ÒWe got a bunch of the wounded out of the way and thatÕs about the end of my story on the thing. ÒWe just did what needed doing. IÕd do it again. Without hesitation. There were lives on the line.Ó What Reynolds didnÕt tell in this story, his men did. ÒOne man on the first chopper was killed and another was seriously wounded,Ó Joe Jones, a platoon leader in this special class of Ô68 said in an earlier interview. ÒHe was 40 at the time and most of us were in our early 20Õs. But ÔTopÕ made every step with us. He could have stayed on the ground that day after our chopper crashed, but he didnÕt Ð he found another chopper and we went right back with him. ÒWe got those men out and we took the North Vietnamese headquarters later that day.Ó Reynolds served two tours in Vietnam, retiring in 1974 as a sergeant major. He is survived by his wife Helen and two children Steve of Memphis and Gail Hall of Opp. The family will receive friends at Wyatt Funeral Home Friday from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Funeral services will be held at First Baptist Church in Opp Saturday at 10 a.m. with interment following at Peaceful Acres |
