Fort Rucker honors Vietnam vet with Silver Star

FORT RUCKER — A single event of “intense personal sacrifice” threatened the life of retired Command Sgt. Maj. Benjamin Lee Reynolds and others in Vietnam in 1968.

Reynolds says the day was as any other in the 20 years in which he served his country.

To his country, however, he deserved far more recognition. The veteran was honored with a Silver Star on Friday at the Army Aviation Museum during the 35th annual Fort Rucker Retiree Appreciation Day.

Seven other retiring military personnel were also honored at the event.

Reynolds’ wife, Helen Reynolds, said he had already received a bronze star for the heroic efforts of 1968.

Reynolds said he was thankful for the recognition, but he had done nothing more than he was supposed to in Vietnam.

“A man does what he has to do,” he said. “It’s other people like you and them who say ‘Hooray,’ ” he said. “I’m proud to say I never had a scratch from what happened. It was just another combat assault, and I had to do what needed to be done.”

Reynolds said his advice to military personnel currently serving was to “do their job.”

Such an order is what all the retirees at the event had done for all their adult lives, Col. Russ Stinger said.

“They’ve focused their time and energy on selfless service. ... For choosing to serve, as a nation we can never thank them enough,” he said.