Gary Arnold Neavor

Gary Arnold Neavor was born April 15, 1944 in Bettendorf. From a young age, Neavor was a phenomenal tuba player and his love of music ran deep. After high school he was married to Christine Neavor. He was drafted into the Army and became a combat engineer. He was attached to Company C, 19th Engineer Battalion, 45th Engineer Troop, in the 18th Engineer Brigade. He deployed to Vietnam in January 1969. While in Vietnam his job was to walk up to 15 miles a day and sweep roads for mines. On May 24, 1969 SP4 Neavor and his team set out on a typical day of mine sweeping. Around 0630 they encountered a large hostile force. Their vehicles and personnel received heavy machine gun and rocket fires. The team dismounted and returned fire. Six men were killed in this ambush. At 25 years old, Gary A. Neavor was laid to rest at Rock Island National Cemetery.