George C. Reed

George Reed was born in Long Branch, New Jersey and lived at the Jersey Shore for his entire childhood. Three of Reed’s uncles served in the military and although they did not talk a lot about their time in the service, they had a great influence on his decision to enlist. He attended Long Branch High School, which had a close kit feeling as it was a relatively small school. When it was time for him to start thinking about life after high school, Reed noted that most graduates either went to college or into the military, since the draft was still in place. He graduated in 1958 and enlisted in the Air Force.

Reed flew from Newark Airport to San Antonio, Texas for Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base. Growing up in a small town in the North, he had never truly experienced public bias or prejudice, but his world flipped upside down when he arrived in Texas. Reed could not go into restaurants or theaters with his fellow White Airmen, which shocked him, as he had never experienced anything like this before. Once his training ended in San Antonio, he was sent to Hunter Air Force Base in Savannah, Georgia, where he experienced even more segregation. Reed was stationed at that base for less than a year, serving as a Crash and Rescue Specialist.

After Hunter AFB, Reed deployed to Sidi Slimane Air Base in Morocco as a member of a firefighting crash and rescue crew. He found that once he left the United States, he left behind segregation and discrimination and felt “accepted”. Reed found the job very boring, however, and he took almost every traveling and sightseeing opportunity he could. After a year in Africa, he requested to be transferred to California, and was eventually assigned to Castle Air Force Base by Atwater, California.

Reed completed his four-year active-duty enlistment at Castle. Missing out on a promotion during his initial enlistment, he chose to not reenlist. Reed was advised that he would not be considered for a promotion if he did not reenlist for six years, which he found unfair. A short period of time after leaving the Air Force, Reed enlisted in the Army, where he served from 1962 to 1978 as a paratrooper and a medic. Reed earned a Purple Heart Medal from actions during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam in 1968.

Reed’s motivation for joining the Army was that he wanted to test himself and his confidence. He wanted a chance to prove to himself that he could do what he believed he was able to do. His first assignment was at Fort Ord, California. Reed had a guaranteed assignment in Guided Missile Deployment originally. During Basic Training, he learned about airborne units, and instantly knew that was for him. He knew of the reputation that paratroopers were the best soldiers, and he strived to be the best, so jump school was a method of testing himself.

After successfully completing Airborne School, Reed was sent to Fort San Houston for medical training, where he learned how to be a combat medic and provide emergency lifesaving procedures. After completing medical training, he remembered being perceived as a medical authority by his peers and became very well respected.

Reed was sent to Okinawa, Japan, where he continued training as a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The brigade trained in jumps on old airstrips and island hopping. One night that stuck in Reed’s memory as particularly significant was the night he learned that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He was on CQ (Charge of Quarters) duty that night, up all night answering phones and relaying messages. When he received the call that Kennedy was assassinated, he had to relay the message to the rest of the troops in his barracks, so the night had a very large impact on him.

After eighteen months in Okinawa, Reed returned to the United States and served at Patterson Army Hospital for one month before the 173rd was deployed to Vietnam. He was served as an advisor to “Ruff Puffs” (Rural Popular Forces), militiamen who were part-time soldiers and had duty on weekends and gave them medical training. He was also involved in “med caps,” which were mobile aid stations that American medical personnel took out into the field to treat local populations. They treated everything from small, infected cuts to amputations. This was a very dangerous operation because they could be attacked at any time by the Viet Cong, and the medics had to carry weapons and had security details attached.

In 1967, George extended his tour in Vietnam until the Tet Offensive occurred in early 1968. Tet was the Vietnamese Lunar New Year holiday, and the US troops were not expecting an attack that day, as in previous years the holiday was treated as a truce. The Tet Offensive consisted of simultaneous attacks on the United States and South Vietnamese forces by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army.

During Tet, Reed realized that this was not the guerilla insurgency that he thought they were fighting. Outposts were surrounded on all four sides, and fighting was heavy. Tet was the first time that he saw dead bodies and realized how serious the conflict was.

The night that Reed was on duty at Long Binh, he had just taken over for another medic on his CQ rotation. Lulled into a false sense of security, he was told how nothing ever happens on this post, and it would be the easiest job he would be assigned during his time there. That night, the post was hit. Reed ran to the alert bell and rang it to wake up all the troops. Walking back through the compound, he was shocked to find a crater where the bell was. Reed no longer felt like he was part of a well-organized effort, even though he trusted and cared for his other soldiers.

Being 25 years old, Reed recalled he was one of the older soldiers over there. He felt a fatherly obligation to teach, but most of all, to protect younger soldiers. Medics held one of the most respected roles in the army, and Reed viewed other soldiers as his responsibility and so put others above himself.

In 1971, George arrived back in Vietnam for a second tour, this time with the 101st Airborne Division. Unlike his previous deployment, he was solely with American troops. Reed remarked that this experience did not feel like he was in Vietnam, because they were hardly around any locals. He was stationed in LZ Sally and then Phu Bai. Phu Bai was said to be a safe base, and the saying was “Phu Bai is alright”.

Reed spent another tour overseas, this time in Japan, before returning home. Seeking out more educational opportunities, he used his GI Bill to attend Brookdale Community College in Middletown Township, New Jersey. Reed majored in Business, which helped him land a job at Fort Monmouth where he worked for six years. At the time of his interview, he said that he still identifies with the Vietnam War, and that it will always be a part of him, and his experiences will never be lost.

Looking back on his time in service, Reed felt remorse and in some ways survivor’s guilt. The 173rd Airborne Brigade was in heavy combat twice during his tour, and he does not understand why he survived, and others did not. Reed had heroes in the beginning of his enlistment, who he later would learn were not who he thought they were, and he realized that not everything in the Army was what it seemed. In his interview he said, “time don’t heal” implying that he will always remember and feel sorrow about soldiers he lost. Reed often finds himself thinking about things that he could have done differently to save lives that did not have to be lost.

Reed believed that his military experiences have taught him to always be grateful and to value hard work. We thanked him for his service to our country and for being an inspiration to many.

Additional Resources:

• VFW Installation of Officers
• Teachers of the Year Contest
• Veterans Honored at Municipal Building