JOB TITLE (HOW LONG?): Business manager of the department of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering (two months). When he speaks about his new job, he exudes enthusiasm — in his own quiet way — about all of the various daily tasks he faces. A strongly built man with blue eyes behind crystal-clear trifocals, he works in an office with unadorned ceramic brick walls in the old nuclear engineering lab.
PREVIOUS UNIVERSITY JOB (HOW LONG?): Program administrative assistant in the department of physics’ nuclear physics laboratory (seven years).
FORMER CAREER: Retired from the U.S. Air Force as a captain in 1989: 18 years in the Air Force and three in the Army. A former U.S. Army helicopter gunner, Reeves was awarded a Silver Star for gallantry in action for his part in the rescue of five Marines in Vietnam.
What do you do on your job?
I am constantly monitoring the department’s budget, making adjustments from various different accounts. We do a lot of proposals. This office is in charge of helping faculty [members] prepare proposals and monitoring their progress.
Was this job a step up for you?
This was a promotion. A lot of departments promote from within, so often these jobs are not available. This is a smaller department, so they didn’t have anyone eligible; they had to go outside of the department.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I enjoy a Christian Bible study. It meets at the Fisher Community Church. I’m on the board of the church and I play bass in its praise band. Besides that I lift weights.
How did you begin your military career?
I enlisted in 1967 right after high school. I grew up in the inner city in St. Louis. I figured the Army was a good way to figure out life. I didn’t want to work in a factory like many of my friends. I wanted to see if I could better myself.
What did you do that led to your nomination for the Silver Star?
A Marine helicopter was shot down near the North Vietnam border with five crewmen on board. One was paralyzed, the others were badly wounded. They were surrounded by the North Vietnam regular army. We heard a radio call for help. Our pilot said we would check it out. We were taking fire and we couldn’t land because the terrain was hilly, with shrubs, gullies and ravines. We hovered, and the crew chief, Ken Combs, and I jumped out from 6 feet up. Our helicopter had to leave us there due to its vulnerability to the incoming gun fire. We found the crewmen. We signaled for a helicopter to come in to take the first four men. Our helicopter had to leave the area again, flying out of reach of the incoming gun fire. Then we went back again to the crashed helicopter for the last man. We had to carry the last man, who was paralyzed, 100 yards through enemy sniper fire and mortar fire, a few feet at a time because he was in such pain. We put the last man on the helicopter and took off. As we got away, two North Vietnamese platoons rushed from the other sides of hills to take over the position we had just vacated. We were very lucky and the Lord was with us.
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