Post office in Valencia to be named for decorated Vietnam veteran William L. Reynolds
There will be a dedication ceremony Tuesday, Aug. 27, to name a post office in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita for a decorated Vietnam War veteran who returned home and became a staunch advocate for all U.S. vets.
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, who authored the bill designating the post office at 24355 Creekside Road as the “William L. Reynolds Post Office Building,” is set to speak at the 9:30 a.m. ceremony, along with Reynolds’ widow, Meg.
Reynolds, a Valencia resident, was a member of the U.S. Army’s Charlie Company, 9th Division, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, and was wounded in the Mekong Delta on June 19, 1967, according to Garcia.
He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Reynolds, who died Jan.11, 2021, at the age of 74, was a columnist and director of veterans affairs for the Santa Clarita Valley Signal newspaper, often writing of veterans issues. He also championed the construction of a veterans memorial in Santa Clarita.
“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.”‘