Marine Barracks Washington, D.C.

MARINE BARRACKS WASHINGTON -- Col. Reginald R. Myers (ret.) passed away at a hospice in West Palm Beach, Fla. Oct. 23. from the effects of a stroke.  Myers, who was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery Dec.21, received the Medal of Honor in the Korean War for leading a small, improvised unit of 250 men, in an attack against an entrenched force of 4,000 Chinese troops Nov. 29, 1950. Myers and his men were to assault and capture a key position during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir.

His Medal of Honor citation, read that Myers "persisted in constantly exposing himself to intense, accurate, and sustained hostile fire in order to direct and supervise the employment of his men and to encourage and spur them on in pressing the attack."

According to an article published by the Times News Services, Myers, also a double-Bronze Star awardee (both with Combat Distinguishing Device), directed artillery and mortar fire and set up emplacements to defend the hill from Chinese efforts to recapture it. The intense fighting lasted 14 hours before reinforcements arrived. In that time, Myers' beleaguered force killed more than 600 Chinese soldiers and wounded 500.

Myers was born Nov. 26, 1919, in Boise, Idaho. He grew up in Boise and Salt Lake City, and graduated in 1941 from the University of Idaho. He was in the Army Reserve before becoming a Marine officer in September 1941.

Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for many of America’s heroes.