Delta Company 1/20

Delta Company, 1st Of The 20th, 11th Light Infantry Brigade
Americal Division

Billie Wayne Reed

Jack Hayden (left)     Billie Wayne Reed (right)

Billie Wayne Reed was lost on June 3, 1969, one of the worst days in Delta history, when we lost seven men. On the morning of June 3rd, the Third Platoon was ambushed by a contingent of North Vietnamese Army soldiers. The ambush resulted in six Third Platoon members being lost. One member from the First Platoon, who entered the ambush zone in an attempt to rescue one man, was badly wounded.

That afternoon, after the casualties were choppered out, the First Platoon headed out across a rice paddy, leading the company. Almost immediately the platoon was ambushed in the middle of the paddy, receiving fire from both sides. Reed set his machine gun up and began returning fire on the 30 caliber machine gun that was firing on the platoon from the left side of the rice paddy. He was hit and mortally wounded.
He was a brave man and died protecting his fellow platoon members.

He was a quiet man, large and strong, and was well-liked by his close friends. He is buried in his home town Murray, Kentucky.