A bill to name a post office in Santa Clarita for a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart and became an advocate for veterans was signed into law on Tuesday, May 8, by President Joe Biden.
The post office at 24355 Creekside Road will be designated as the “William L. Reynolds Post Office Building” under HR 292, which was approved by the House on a voice vote Oct. 2 and passed the Senate by unanimous consent April 23.
Rep. Mike Garcia delivers a tribute to William Reynolds during a Congressional session. Photo: YouTube
Reynolds was a member of Army’s Charlie Company, 9th Division, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment in the Battle of My Lai when he was wounded on June 19, 1967, according to Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, who authored the bill.
Reynolds died Jan.11, 2021, at the age of 74.
“From an early age, Bill was a scrapper, he was a real patriot, he loved his friends, he loved his family, but his deepest love was for the United States of America and those who served to protect her,” Garcia said on the House floor on Feb. 4, 2021.
“The blood he shed and the sacrifices that he made overseas during combat operations were matched only by his commitment and his passion to take care of the veterans back home.
“In fact, in my hometown of Santa Clarita there is a veterans memorial that stands today because of Bill’s hard work and his advocacy. In the halls of a local veteran support center, there are several dozen biographies of our city’s local heroes, our veterans, and all of these biographies were written by Bill after he personally sat down, interviewed, and discussed their experiences with them each individually.
“Bill loved our veterans because he understood what it meant to truly serve, and he understood what it meant to truly sacrifice. In his own words, he said, ‘America was founded on the courage to fight for freedom, and that’s what the veteran community does. They take pride in that, there’s no better family than the veteran community.”‘
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