[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 21 (Thursday, February 4, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H330-H331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING THE LIFE OF BILL REYNOLDS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Garcia) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GARCIA of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a fallen 
hero who graced our glorious Nation for 47 years. Mr. Bill Reynolds, 
one of my best friends and a loyal wingman, crossed into heaven to be 
alongside the Lord on January 11.
  As a young man, Bill also crossed oceans to fight for this Nation in 
the jungles of Vietnam in 1967. In fact, he was one of the few 
surviving members of the well-known ``The Boys of `67,'' the Army's 
Charlie Company, 9th Division, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment.
  He was wounded in combat on the Mekong Delta on June 19, 1967, in one 
of the fiercest days of the Vietnam war during the Battle of My Lai. 
Despite being wounded, Bill continued to fight alongside his fellow 
Americans as they took on heavy fire. His brave service earned him the 
Bronze Star as well as the Purple Heart.
  From an early age, Bill was a scrapper. He was a real patriot. He 
loved his friends, he loved his family, but his deepest love was for 
the United States of America and those who served to protect her. The 
blood he shed and the sacrifices that he made overseas during

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combat operations were matched only by his commitment and his passion 
to take care of veterans back home.

  In fact, in my hometown of Santa Clarita, there is a veterans' 
memorial that stands today because of Bill's hard work and his 
advocacy. In the halls of a local veterans' support center, there are 
several dozen biographies of our city's local heroes, our veterans; and 
all of these biographies were written by Bill after he personally sat 
down, interviewed, and discussed their experiences with them each, 
individually.
  Bill loved our veterans because he understood what it meant to truly 
serve, and he understood what it meant to truly sacrifice. In his own 
words he said: ``America was founded on the courage to fight for 
freedom, and that is what the veteran community does. They take pride 
in that. There is no better family than the veteran community,'' he 
said.
  Bill was a steward of those who protected our Nation. A warrior with 
a big heart and a sheepdog with a big bark and an even bigger fight, 
and he knew what that flag, Mr. Speaker, stood for, and he would do 
anything to protect it.
  And underneath all the passion and fight was a kind and gentle man, 
one of the most soft-spoken and caring men I have ever known, a husband 
to Meg, a role model to his sons, and a friend to thousands.
  Bill knew better than anyone that our Nation is a precious one and 
that its survival is not pre-ordained.
  He knew that our Nation is sometimes vulnerable. It is an experiment 
of government still in its infancy, a developing Nation that is 
underpinned by goodwill and dependent on the labors of good Americans 
willing to serve her and to fight for her for the right reasons.
  We are indeed a Nation that sometimes wobbles and, in doing so, we 
require the steady hands of patriots and leaders. We are a Nation that 
is kept stable by the exertions of great Americans. People like Bill 
Reynolds.
  Bill was an American who cared until the very end and will continue 
to look over us and our precious Nation like the loyal wingman that he 
has always been.
  May God bless Bill Reynolds and his family. And may God bless this 
great Nation that he gave so much and fought so hard for.

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