VIEW ALL PHOTOS (10)
HONORED ON PANEL 4W, LINE 66 OF THE WALL
REGINALD DAVID CLEVE
WALL NAME
REGINALD D CLEVE
PANEL / LINE
4W/66
DATE OF BIRTH
CASUALTY PROVINCE
DATE OF CASUALTY
HOME OF RECORD
COUNTY OF RECORD
STATE
BRANCH OF SERVICE
RANK
STATUS
REMEMBRANCES
LEFT FOR REGINALD DAVID CLEVE
POSTED ON 5.7.2025
POSTED BY: Kyler Warr
Hello
Reading all of these other Remembrances, I have no clue what to put, I want to show my respect, but I do not know you, nor do our families, so I can only hope that you are well...
POSTED ON 5.14.2024
POSTED BY: DAVID THOMPSON
POW/MIA BRACELET DISPLAY - PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM
https://palmspringsairmuseum.org/vietnam-pow-bracelet-display/
Dr. Dave Thompson
Palm Springs Air Museum
POW/MIA Bracelet Display Curator
Lt. Commander U.S. Navy 1964-1970
10-103 Lakeview Dr. Rancho Mirage, Ca 92270
760-328-0859 760-464-6843 [email protected]
POSTED ON 12.12.2023
POSTED BY: Zipp
Ode To Reginald
ODE TO REGINALD
By Carl Zipperer
He was tall and good-looking, a confident young man
He flew Hueys for the Army, a chopper pilot in Vietnam
Reginald David Cleve was his given name
It was from Farmington, Missouri, that he came
He was a bright, friendly fellow, wise beyond his years
He was highly respected among all of his peers.
He was a skilled pilot and a courageous one, too
He took a mission that another would not do.
It was so sad that when his life he gave
It was to replace another – Reg was so brave.
Now, how did this happen, you ask?
Reg volunteered for the task.
He climbed aboard his Huey and was ready to go
It would be his second time at that awful shit-show.
That combat offensive, named Lam Son 719,
Reg had 46 days left in Vietnam at the time.
In his heart, he knew that he would not survive
He called me to talk and said his goodbyes.
We stood on the flight line at the nose of his bird
With rotor blades swishing softly above, it was then that I heard
That he had a premonition that he would not survive
That this would be the last time I’d see him alive
A favor of me he asked was to write to his wife
If he was listed as MIA, but I knew he had lost his life
So I told him yes; I told him I would
But when it happened, I didn’t think that I could.
Then I found a letter that he had left in my room.
It was instructions for the awful task that I had to assume.
With my eyes full of tears, I wrote Karen the letter
I hated the task because I knew it would upset her.
Along with my letter, I enclosed his note to me
So that she could read it, so that she could see.
So that she could read it and could understand
That my intentions were simply to follow his command.
She and I came face-to-face after forty-seven years
And both of us immediately just burst into tears.
She had moved on and lived a good life.
But she never forgot that she had been his wife.
Reginald David Cleve
Born August 2, 1947
KIA March 22, 1971, Savannakhet Province, Laos
Body Never Recovered
Memorial Service Held March 22, 2018
By Carl Zipperer
He was tall and good-looking, a confident young man
He flew Hueys for the Army, a chopper pilot in Vietnam
Reginald David Cleve was his given name
It was from Farmington, Missouri, that he came
He was a bright, friendly fellow, wise beyond his years
He was highly respected among all of his peers.
He was a skilled pilot and a courageous one, too
He took a mission that another would not do.
It was so sad that when his life he gave
It was to replace another – Reg was so brave.
Now, how did this happen, you ask?
Reg volunteered for the task.
He climbed aboard his Huey and was ready to go
It would be his second time at that awful shit-show.
That combat offensive, named Lam Son 719,
Reg had 46 days left in Vietnam at the time.
In his heart, he knew that he would not survive
He called me to talk and said his goodbyes.
We stood on the flight line at the nose of his bird
With rotor blades swishing softly above, it was then that I heard
That he had a premonition that he would not survive
That this would be the last time I’d see him alive
A favor of me he asked was to write to his wife
If he was listed as MIA, but I knew he had lost his life
So I told him yes; I told him I would
But when it happened, I didn’t think that I could.
Then I found a letter that he had left in my room.
It was instructions for the awful task that I had to assume.
With my eyes full of tears, I wrote Karen the letter
I hated the task because I knew it would upset her.
Along with my letter, I enclosed his note to me
So that she could read it, so that she could see.
So that she could read it and could understand
That my intentions were simply to follow his command.
She and I came face-to-face after forty-seven years
And both of us immediately just burst into tears.
She had moved on and lived a good life.
But she never forgot that she had been his wife.
Reginald David Cleve
Born August 2, 1947
KIA March 22, 1971, Savannakhet Province, Laos
Body Never Recovered
Memorial Service Held March 22, 2018
POSTED ON 5.29.2023
POSTED BY: Carl Z
We were close as brothers and I loved him like one.
Reginald Cleve and I became friends soon after we met in July 1970. Reg, having about two more months in Vietnam than I, was a mentor, friend, and fellow helicopter pilot in the 176th Aviation Company (Assault Helicopter). We only knew each other briefly - a little less than nine months But I have never known anyone else for such a short time who became such a close friend or affected my life in such a dramatic way. During my tour in Vietnam, no one else kept me so grounded and focused on life rather than death. We were close as brothers and I loved him like one. We talked about the future when we got back to “the world,” as we said in those days. We agreed about what a beautiful country Vietnam was and what a great vacation spot it would be, were it not for all the booby traps. We planned all the things we would do together when we got back home.