Terry Joe Reed

Terry Joe Reed was the only Dickinson County fatality of the Vietnam War. Reed graduated from Arnold’s Park High School in the class of 1964. He joined the Army in the fall after graduating high school. Reed completed his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO and trained as a journalist at Fort Slocum, NY. His first assignment was in Hawaii as a reporter at the Schofield Barracks. He was sent to South Vietnam in January 1966 and assigned to the 25th Infantry Division. During his short time in Vietnam, PFC Reed was involved in several firefights as a non-combatant reporter. He died on February 14, 1966 during the battle for Cu Chi, or better known as Hell’s Half Acre. He sustained multiple fatal fragmentation wounds. PFC Reed was 19 years old and married at the time of his death. His body was laid to rest at the Lakeview Cemetery in Spirit Lake.